The town of Ta Proum has seven gateways in the style of triumphal arches, formed by a central tower at the entrance and by lateral galleries. As at Ongcor the Great, a deep track is worn in the roadway beneath by the passage of vehicles. The interior of the town is completely deserted; no one enters it except the Cambodians from a hamlet outside the enclosure, who cultivate a few rice-plantations. In the centre are the ruins of a large and splendid monument, which has suffered greatly by the hand of time, and perhaps also from barbarous invasions. The ruins are surrounded by a double wall of ferruginous stone and by deep moats; and at every entrance are galleries with porticoes. A long gallery, 120 metres on each side, and with porticoes at the middle and at each end, goes quite round the building. Exteriorly, on each side, are two detached towers about 10 or 15 metres from the ruins. This gallery is formed by an interior wall and colonnades supporting a vaulted roof, which in many places has fallen in, and most of the columns are overthrown.
On the opposite wall are large bas-reliefs, forming series of subjects, set in a magnificent framework, which is in so good a state of preservation that the delicacy of the execution can be appreciated. As for the bas-reliefs themselves, they are much injured, not so much by time as by some barbarous hand, for everywhere are marks of the hammer or pickaxe. Leaving this gallery on the western side, you enter a long court, in which are three detached towers, and on the opposite side are similar towers.
Several of these, which are from 8 to 10 metres high, and well preserved, are real works of art. The mandarins of the provinces of Ongcor and Battambong are at present occupied in taking two of them to pieces, in order to transport them to Bangkok, the king having issued orders to that effect, and appointed one of the mandarins to carry them out.[1]
Beyond, extends a second rectangular gallery, connected with the first by three parallel galleries and two transverse ones. At the points where they intersect are ten towers, placed, like the galleries, in an odd and unsymmetrical fashion. The perfect preservation of several parts of these last, and the ruinous state of others, seem to mark different ages.
One of the towers and several of the galleries are constructed of ferruginous stone, the others of sandstone. The architecture of the galleries is the same as that of Ongcor-Wat, a double roof with colonnades. All the building is on one floor. This temple, which, after Ongcor-Wat, is the largest of all, is situated in a desert place, and lost amidst a forest; an exuberant vegetation has overgrown everything, galleries and towers, so that it is difficult to force a passage.
Ruins in the Province of Battambong.
RUINS OF BATTAMBONG.
The principal ruins of this province are those of Bassette, Banone, and Watêk. I visited Bassette twice, before going to Ongcor and after; but all I could bring away was the design of a bas-relief in perfect preservation, carved on a block of sandstone 1 metre 50 centimetres long, forming the top of a doorway in a brick tower. The whole place is so ruinous, that one might suppose some enemy had done his utmost to demolish it, or that one gazed at the results of an earthquake. A thick vegetation, the haunt of fierce animals, has sprung up, and we found it quite impossible to discover the plan of the buildings. Galleries have disappeared under the ground, and the bases of doorways are to be seen 2 metres above.
The only portion which remains at all perfect is an erection 25 metres long and 6 metres wide, divided in two parts by an interior wall, the ends of which are in the form of a tower. It is built entirely of stone, and the exterior bears traces of fine carving on the tops of the doors and on the cornices; inside, the walls are bare, and almost all the stones chipped and injured. The windows have been ornamented with twisted bars, of which only a few traces remain.
On the ground inside lies a large broken stone, 5 decimetres wide and 2 thick, having on each side inscriptions apparently similar; this, and two small fractured idols are the sole remains of Buddhism at Bassette. The subjects, most frequently occurring over the doors, represent men with long beards, seated, and wearing high conical head-dresses, the hands either resting on the hilt of a poignard or crossed one over another, elephants with four heads, and other fanciful creatures.