WONDERFUL RUINS IN SIAM.

Waikato Times, Volume II, Issue 104, 31 December 1872, Page 2

WONDERFUL RUINS IN SIAM.

G-enerali Perrtx, a Frenchman, commanding the land forces,of the King of Siam, writes to a French paper as follows :— " For six clays' journey of an elephant, I have traversed the ruins of Ancor-Niat, only penetrating them at intervals, where explorers had been before. What I have seen of monuments, temples, palaces, columns, staircases, and piles of marbles, cannot be told. They would not believe me. The people say that the ruins are spread over a circle of from ten to twelve leagues in diameter. What was the citv that existed there —and of what empire was it the capital ? I have seen temples in a good state of preservation (excent the vegetation that harl sprung up in them), which measured not less than a league round. There are forests of marble columns —everything is marble. Although much may have disappeared beneath the soil, what remains is far above what we see at Versailles, or elsewhere. In some places they arc as solid as though built but yesterday. But for the undergrowth and the eliect of lightning, these monuments, which the people say are from four to five thousand years old, might be to-day in complete preservation. I regret that I had no photographic apparatus, I assure you; and believe me or not, that the most celebrated monuments of anc : ent or modern Europe are as*mere barracks compared with these, while our palaces and basilicas, the Vatican and Coliseum, are little better than dog-Kennels in comparison. " I wished to ascend to a temple which appeared to be in a good state of preservation. There were eleven staircases, of I know not how many steps, which must be ascended to arrive at the first of the five peristyles. I commenced my upward journey at half-past six in the morning; at half-past seven I had scarcely entered the lower halls. Fearing that I might have to descend the steps in the heat of the day, I was compelled to shorten my visit. The walls are in every part sculptured and ornamented. The first effect which the sight of these monuments produced upon me was one of amazement. lam no amateur to go into ecstasies over small things. The next mornini, I climbed the winding staircase of an immense tower, situated on an eminen.ee. A rived at the summit, I enioved the sight of the ruins. There are, in localities where I have not penetrated, prices of a belg't and grandeur truly colossal. Wit'i a field-glass I exam : ned the details. Thei.■ architectural richness is unrivalled, and they extend into, the territory of Cambodia, a distance of ten or twelve 'eagues. " Picture to yourself how Paris would appear in ru'nj. A few rough stones, scattered over a diameter of two or three leagues at the utmost. Ilerc there is on the ground, and below its sir-face, marble, already hewn in sufficient quantities to build, even as the giants have built here, all the cities of the universe. I have seen the leg of a statue, the great toe of which was eleven times the length of my bunting r : oe. It is in marble lite the rest—in fact, there is no other stone near, excent the pieces of coloured statues, which are more lofty and larger than the church of Sa'nt G-ermain l'Auxerro : s. Think of octagonal pyramids cut off at the middle, and all in marble! Who his done these things? If it was some illustrious dynasty, thev can have but little satisfaction with the oblivion that has enveloped their magnificent nnnuments. The people of the country have no eonceot'on of the builders, although their literature extends back into the centuries a3 far as our 3."