Leaving the next day, we marched through a gap between the sandstone hillocks; near which the direct road to Zimmé leaves our route. Here we met twenty-four laden oxen. Two miles farther we commenced the ascent of the spur that divides the affluents of the Meh Ta from those of the Meh Hkuang. The ascent and descent were steep for some little distance from the crest. A tunnel through the spur would only need to be a few hundred yards long.
Two miles and a half from the crest rice-fields commenced, and from thence to 15 miles beyond Zimmé nearly the whole plain is under cultivation, and villages[[13]] are numerous. Continuing through the plain, I halted to ascend a knoll named Loi Tee, that juts up from the plain some distance beyond where a low spur from the hill we had last crossed ends. Loi Tee is about 100 feet high, and is crested by a celebrated pagoda and temple, from whose grounds a magnificent view is obtained of the country. Dr M‘Gilvary and the remainder of the party, with the exception of Moung Loogalay and my guide, went on with Dr Cushing, whilst I got off my elephant to visit the shrine.
The broad brick staircase, 700 feet long, which led up to the platform of the pagoda, was roofed in a similar manner to the one leading up to the Shway Dagon pagoda at Rangoon; and several men were employed repairing it in expectation of a visit from the Siamese prince. The temple was beautifully decorated with gold-leaf, tinsel, and glass of various colours. A wooden horse of full life-size was standing saddled on the platform near the pagoda, reminding one of the enchanted flying horse in the ‘Arabian Nights.’
A raised cart-road 10 feet wide leading from Loi Tee to the ford over the Meh Hkuang, opposite the south entrance-gate of Lapoon, had recently been repaired, and, with its continuation towards Zimmé, was the only good made-road outside a town that I met during my journeys. After following this road for two and a half miles, we crossed the river (which is 250 feet broad, 10 feet deep, and had 9 inches of water in its bed), and entered the city. Five minutes later we halted at the house of Chow Don, the Siamese Assistant Judge, which is situated close to the Wat Hluang or Great Temple of Lapoon, where we put up for the night. The north gate of the city lies 12 miles from Zimmé, and the bank of the river is 1028 feet above the sea.
After breakfast, I wandered about the city visiting the pagodas and temples. The Great Temple, the finest seen by me in the Shan States, is 150 feet long and 65 feet broad. The posts of the centre aisle are 2¼ feet in diameter, and 60 feet high from the floor to the wall-plate. They are coloured with vermilion, and decorated with gold-leaf. The woodwork of the temple is beautifully carved and gilded, and richly inlaid with glass and tinsel of various colours; and the floor is flagged with rectangular slabs of marble. No expense seems to have been spared in building, adorning, and preserving the temples at this city. Many fine bronze images have been dedicated to the temples, besides the ordinary heavily gilded brick and plaster images: one of the latter, a reclining image of Gaudama, was 36 feet long.
At the entrance of the enclosure containing the Wat Hluang and the Pra Tat, or pagoda containing sacred relics, are two Rachasis, the fabulous king of beasts, one on either side, sheltered by ornamented roofs; and at each of the four corners of the pagoda are guardian spirits, sheltered in the same manner, and honoured by having an immense gilt umbrella erected in front of them. A large copper gong in the grounds measured 7½ feet in circumference, and had a magnificent tone.
The pagoda, which is said to be of stone and very ancient, is mentioned in one of the Buddhist books, and is held in great reverence by the people and by pilgrims from the neighbouring States. It rises in gradually diminishing rings to a height of 80 feet, and is covered by gilded copper plates, each 18 inches long and 12 inches wide. On the top of its spire is a handsome htee, or series of umbrellas which rise in a cone of five tiers. To each tier are suspended numerous small sweet-toned bells, whose clappers have large light tongues of thin metal attached to them, which are swayed by every motion in the air, the slightest breeze causing the bells to tinkle.
The pagoda is surrounded by a double paling formed of square copper rods, hollow inside; and at every 10 feet is a pillar of the same metal, surmounted at the top with a ball. Close to the railings are eight cast-iron lanterns intended to resemble temples, one of which is in the form of a junk; and cast-iron tables have likewise been erected near the base to receive the offerings of the devout. The pagoda is said to have been marked out by the two holy men, Wathoo-dewah and Tuka-danda, A.D. 574, at the time when, by their prayers and superabundant merit, they raised from out of the earth the walls, gates, and ramparts, and sunk the fosse of Lapoon. Two years later, having collected the people from the surrounding forests and hamlets, they raised Zammaday-we, daughter of the King of Vieng Chang, the capital of Soroaratatyne, and widow of a prince of Cambodia, to the throne.
It was about this time, according to the chronicle of Muang Mau, a Shan kingdom in the Upper Irrawaddi valley, that Kun Ngu, the third son of Kun Lung, the chief of Muang Mau, founded La-maing-tai, a city neighbouring Zimmé; and it may be that this prince married the queen, and gave rise to the first known Shan chieftainship of Zimmé. After thirty-five kings of this line had reigned, the chief, perhaps of a new line, Adutza-woon-tha, built the pagoda only 7 cubits high; while each of his successors, during six reigns, added 7 cubits to its stature; and a princess completed the work by topping the pagoda with a gold cap and a handsome gold umbrella.
When visiting Lapoon in 1837, M‘Leod heard that a copper-mine existed at Muang Kut, which had been filled up on the hill being struck by lightning.