VIII. - Part of Reservoir.<BR> <BR> A flight of steps conducts to each reservoir. One of these descents is represented on the right of this photograph. These steps have been guarded on either side by stone lions, which we found in fragments in the reservoir. The positions which they occupied are indicated by the three holes shewn on the upper surface of the stone, on the right and left of the steps. In the centre of each of the four reservoirs we found a heap of sculptured stones. What these may have been it is difficult to say - probably images of the snake god, or even fountains with consecrated water issuing from the mouths of the seven-headed snake. In examining the upper reservoir we discovered an aqueduct, which appears to have communicated with the lower reservoirs. If so, an enormous pressure of water would be obtained. That this idea may appear less hypothetical, I may state that at the present day it is customary in Siam, on the occasion of a great religious ceremony, such as the "hair cutting", of coming of age of the Crown Prince (which I witnessed last year), to erect an artificial hill, having on its summit something like a rude imitation of the upper portion of Nakhon Wat. There was also an elevated reservoir of consecrated water, communicating with the tank at the foot of the hill, in the centre of which the Prince was seated, while he was bathed with the water as it issued in jets from the mouths of lions and other animals.<BR> It will be seen from a careful examination of the photograph, that the ornaments along the ridges, and at the angles of the roofs, consist of infinite repetitions of the seven-headed snake god. The picture, which is a mere fragment of the building, will also convey some idea of the beauty of design that characterises the whole, where the architect has combined the ornate richness of the finest Indian structures with the power and massiveness of our most classical examples, and in no part of the building can we find a finer illustration of the adaptation of the structure to the nature of the climate. The massive stone roofs, with their curved surfaces, present a reflecting angle to the hot rays of a vertical sun. Between the pillared spaces a mild reflected light would be admitted from the courts or the mirror-like surface of water in the reservoir; while the cool air of the inner corridors would induce an outward current, establishing a complete system of ventilation throughout the entire building. To sit at mid-day, beneath the inviting shade of these arching roofs, the solitude of the place and the scene before us carrying us back in imagination to the time when the temple was in its glory - when, perfect as they left the chisel of the sculptor, every pillar and ornament was mirrored in the reservoir, and when groups of devotees, in the graceful costume of a polished age, were waiting for the time of worship - seemed a recompense for all the toil of our journey, and inspired within us a feeling of reverence for the race that had raised such monuments to its religion and its god.<BR> <BR> in: Album "The antiquities of Cambodia a series of photographs taken on the spot With Letterpress Description By John Thomson, F.R.G.S., F.E.S.L., Edinburgh: Edmonston & Douglas MDCCCLXVII"; opgenomen in KIT Library ILS (RF-279) page 41.