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KING 
 
NARRATIVE OF THE MISSION 
 
 SENT BY THE GOVERNOR-GENERAL OF INDIA 
 
 TO 
 
 THE COURT OF AVA 
 
 IN 1855, 
 
 WITH NOTICES OF THE COUNTRY, GOVERNMENT, AND PEOPLE. 
 
 By CAPTAIN HENRY YULE, 
 
 BENGAL ENGINEERS, F.R.G.8., 
 LATE SECRETARY TO THE ENVOY (MAJOR PHAYRE), AND UNDER-SECRETARY (D.P.W.) TO THE GOVERNMENT OF INDIA. 
 
 itfar IJumeroiTS <f {lustrations. 
 
 LONDON : 
 SMITH, ELDER, AND CO. 65 CORNHILL. 
 
 1858. 
 

 *: •• • • 
 
 -.- • ..-. 
 
 LONDON : 
 Printed by G. Barclay, Castle St. Leicester Sq. 
 
TO THE 
 
 MOST NOBLE THE MARQUIS OF DALHOUSIE, K.T. 
 
 Cljis §00li, 
 
 WHICH OWED ITS ORIGIN TO HIS COMMAND, 
 
 IS DEDICATED, 
 
 WITH GRATEFUL AND ADMIRING REMEMBRANCE, 
 
 BY HIS 
 
 ATTACHED AND FAITHFUL SERVANT, 
 
 H. YULE. 
 
 E361.87 
 
PREFACE. 
 
 In the beginning of 1855, a year and a half after the termination of the 
 last Burmese War, the present King of Ava sent a mission of compliment, 
 with presents, to the Governor - General, Lord Dalhousie. His Lordship 
 promised that the compliment should he returned, and in the summer of 
 the same year Major Arthur Phayre, the de facto Governor of the New 
 Province of Pegu, was appointed Envoy. 
 
 I had the honour to be named as his secretary, and I was given to 
 understand that one of the chief duties of the office would be the pre- 
 paration of a narrative of the mission for publication. 
 
 Such a narrative was prepared accordingly, and a few copies were 
 printed at Calcutta for the use of the Government. Their warm approval 
 having been accorded, as well as that of others entitled to speak with 
 authority (among whom it is gratifying to me to name my venerable 
 predecessor in this field, Mr. Crawfurd), the work, after undergoing some 
 retrenchment and re-arrangement, is published in its present form. 
 
 The task of compilation was an arduous one, and was completed during 
 the tenure of a laborious office totally unconnected with the subject. 
 What may be humorously called the leisure hours of a Calcutta official's 
 life, —such hours as he may redeem from meals and sleep, between 8 p.m. 
 and 10 a.m. — were devoted to it for some twelve months; besides,^ I fear, 
 not a few borrowed from more professional duties, thanks to the kind for- 
 bearance of a chief, under whom it has been my pride and happiness to 
 work for many years, and in various branches of the public service.* 
 
 To several of my friends and comrades on the journey my hearty ac- 
 knowledgments are due for their assistance ; chiefly to the Envoy, Major 
 Phayre, to Mr. Oldham, and to Major Grant Allan of the Madras Army. 
 
 * Colonel William Erskinc Baker of the Bengal Engineers. 
 
VI PREFACE. 
 
 And this acknowledgment must be held to apply to much more than is 
 ascribed to them by name in the text. To my friend the Rev. W. D. 
 Maclagan of St. Peter's College, Cambridge, I owe my best thanks for 
 his correction of the press and general supervision of the work in my 
 absence ; and to Mr. James Fergusson, for his kind promise to superintend 
 the Plates and to furnish a note on the architecture of the ancient Budd- 
 hist Temples at Pagan, a subject on which he can speak with more autho- 
 rity than any man living. 
 
 To the dead, also, acknowledgment is due. Many of the Notes in 
 these pages bear the respected name of Colonel Henry Burney, formerly 
 Resident at Ava, and were derived from his copious Journals and other 
 papers in the Calcutta Foreign Office. The MSS. of Dr. Richardson, 
 Dr. Bayfield, Colonel Hannay, and Colonel Macleod, which have never 
 been published, unless in somewhat meagre abstract, were also carefully 
 perused, and have been often referred to. The two last-named officers 
 are, I am happy to say, still living. 
 
 There are various other acknowledgments, doubtless, that ought to 
 have been made, and various explanations that ought to have been given, in 
 this Preface. But the majority of readers (not reading Prefaces) will not 
 miss them ; and the others must forgive the deficiency, as I write here 
 without a scrap of reference or memorandum pertaining to the subject. 
 
 If life be granted, I doubt not all my companions in the Ava Mission 
 will look back to our social progress up the Irawadi, with its many 
 quaint and pleasant memories, as to a bright and joyous holiday; which, 
 indeed, it was. But for one standing here on the margin of those rivers, 
 which a few weeks ago were red with the blood of our murdered 
 brothers and sistei-s, and straining the ear to catch the echo of our 
 avenging artillery, it is difficult to turn the mind to what seem dreams 
 of past days of peace and security. And memory itself grows dim in 
 the attempt to repass the gulf which the last few months have inter- 
 posed between the present and the time to which this Narrative refers. 
 
 Fortress of Allahabad, October 3, 1857. 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 CHAP. PAGE 
 
 I. JOURNAL OF THE MISSION FROM THE BRITISH FRONTIER TO PAGAN-MYO .... 1 
 
 II THE REMAINS AT PAGAN 30 
 
 III. JOURNAL FROM PAGAN TO THE CAPITAL ......... 55 
 
 IV. OUR RESIDENCE AT THE CAPITAL .......... 74 
 
 V. THE CITY OF AMARAPOORA . . . . . . . . . . .180 
 
 VI. EXCURSIONS IN THE ENVIRONS OF THE CAPITAL ....... 168 
 
 VII. RETURN OF THE MISSION FROM THE CAPITAL TO RANGOON . . . . . .192 
 
 VIII. NOTES ON THE INTERCOURSE OF THE BURMESE COUNTRIES WITH WESTERN NATIONS UP TO 
 
 THE PEACE OF YANDABO ........... 204 
 
 IX. NOTICES OF THE HISTORY OF BURMA FROM THE PEACE OF YANDABO (1826) TO THE 
 
 REVOLUTION OF 1853 ............ 220 
 
 X. SOME ACCOUNT OF THE RELIGION OF THE BURMESE 233 
 
 XI. THE MINISTERS OF STATE MILITARY AFFAIRS REVENUES AND CURRENCY . . . 243 
 
 XII. ON THE MAP OF BURMAH DESCRIPTIVE GEOGRAPHY AND POPULATION . . . 262 
 
 XIII. THE SHAN STATES TRIBUTARY TO BURMA ......... 291 
 
 APPENDIX. 
 
 A. NOTES ON THE GEOLOGICAL FEATURES OF THE BANKS OF THE 1RAWADI, AND OF THE 
 
 COUNTRY NORTH OF AMARAPOORA .......... 309 
 
 B. FROM APPENDIX B. TO THE MS. JOURNAL OF MAJOR H. BURNEY, RESIDENT AT AVA, 
 
 ACCOMPANYING A LETTER DATED 11TH SEPTEMBER, 1830, IN THE FOREIGN OFFICE, 
 CALCUTTA . . . . . . . . . . . . .851 
 
 C. TRANSLATION OF THE BURMESE HYMN CHANTED BY THE BRAHMINS .... 352 
 
 D. LETTER FROM THE GOVERNOR-GENERAL TO THE KING OF AVA ..... 358 
 
 E. THE KING'S LETTER TO THE GOVERNOR-GENERAL ....... 354 
 
 F. ON THE PLAN OF BURMESE MONASTERIES ......... 354 
 
 G. ON THE SOURCES OF THE IRAWADI .......... 356 
 
 H. DETAIL QF IMPORTS AND EXPORTS . . . . . . . . . .301 
 
 I. SPECIMENS OF THE REIGNING KING'S EDICTS ........ 362 
 
 J. SPECIMEN OF A BURMESE DRAMA (MAJOR PHAYRE) ....... 368 
 
 K. THE MISSION OF GERARD VAN WUSTHOF TO THE KING OF THE LAOS .... 374 
 
 L. NOTE ON THE AFFINITIES OF THE INDIAN AND BURMESE STYLES OF ARCHITECTURE. 
 
 BY JAMES FERGUSSON, ESQ. ........... 377 
 
 M. ON TnE LANGUAGES SPOKEN IN BURMA AND THE ADJACENT COUNTRIES .... 381 
 
J*-? 
 
NARRATIVE 
 
 OF A 
 
 MISSION TO THE COURT OF AVA. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 JOURNAL OF THE MISSION FROM THE BRITISH FRONTIER TO PAGAN-MYO. 
 
 List of the Party — Departure from Rangoon — Enter the Burmese Territory — Burmese Carts and Cattle 
 
 — Abstinence from Milk among Burmese and kindred races — Cultivation, singular Plough — Maloon — 
 Reach Menh'la and meet Deputation from the Court — The War-Boats, their Htees and glass bottles — 
 Object of the latter — Curious parodies of truth in Buddhist Science and Faith — Town of Menh'la — 
 KalA, its meaning and probable origin — Different Craft of the Irawadi described — Mengoon — Poly- 
 nesian resemblances — Character of the Irawadi and its banks — White Umbrellas — Daily Stages 
 of our journey — Town of Magwo — Burmese Bridges — Air of distrust — Monasteries — Beautiful 
 Thein, or Chapel for Consecration of Priests — Petrified Posts — Holy Sites of Theins — Introduction 
 to the Burmese Drama — The Musical Instruments — The Stage, characters, and prolixity — Puppet 
 Plays — Decency of the Burmese Drama contested — Yenangyoung and its Petroleum Wells — Mode 
 of working and probable amount obtained — Uses of Petroleum — Poongyis and Burmese Religion 
 
 — Punishment of perjury— Animal food not prohibited — Oil loaded in bulk — Ruins at Tantabeng 
 — Paopa Mountain — Silleh-myo — Religious Buildings — Tributary Channels of the Irawadi, their 
 general character — Bil&s or Ogres — The Sheriff of the River — Reach Pagan — New Spectacle pro- 
 vided — Singularly picturesque anchorage — The Pumpkin Pagoda. 
 
 The Mission party,* having embarked on board the " Sutlej" and "Panlang" flats, in tow 
 of the "Bentinck" and "Nerbudda" steamers, quitted Rangoon at day-break on the 2st 
 of August. Some stay being made at Prome, at Thayet-myo, and at Meaday, where the 
 Envoy received a letter from the Kyoukmau Mengyi, the principal minister at Amara- 
 
 * The party was composed as follows : — The Envoy, the Secretary, Dr. John Forsyth (Superintending 
 Surgeon in Pegu), Major Grant Allan of the Quarter-Master General's Department and Special Deputy 
 Commissioner on the Frontier, Mr. Oldham (Superintendent of the Geological Survey of India), Captain 
 Ronnie, Lieut. Heathcote and Mr. Ogilvie of the Indian Navy, Captain Willis, of H. M. 84th, commanding 
 the escort, Captain Tripe (of the Madras army) an accomplished photographer, Mr. Colesworthy Grant as 
 artist, Mr. R. Edwards (who had long resided at Ava with Colonel Burney) as interpreter ; Lieut. Mackenzie 
 of the 8th Irregular Cavalry, Lieut. Hardy and Ensign Woolhouse of H. M. 84th, and Dr. Cholmeley of the 
 Madras service, as officers of the escort. The latter consisted of the Light Company of H. M. 84th from 
 Rangoon, with a native officer and fifteen men of the 8th Irregular Cavalry, and a part of the band of 
 H. M. 29th taken on board at Thayet-myo. 
 
 ZK 
 
2 JOURNAL OF THE MISSION 
 
 poors, intimating that a deputation from the Court had been appointed to escort us up the 
 river, we did not quit the last-mentioned frontier station till the morning of the 11th. 
 About 9 a.m. on that day we got under way, saluted by the guns of the Fort, and a little 
 before noon we crossed the frontier, six miles farther north. Small white pillars on either 
 bank mark the change of sovereignty. 
 
 We moored for our first night in the Burmese territories at Zoung-gyan-doung, a 
 
 small village on the west bank, a little below the large and richly wooded island of 
 
 Loon-gyee. The wooded range of hills which clings to the river on the west side all the 
 
 way from Prome, with an interruption of a few miles above and below Thayet-myo, 
 
 continued throughout the extent of this day's voyage.* On the east, the country was 
 
 , }ower and .undulating. Here and there on either side a narrow champaign tract inter- 
 
 ' Verted bsMve'eii' the' river and the high land, having all that richness of aspect which an 
 
 ; (ni)ir,i6kt,nj-b'. of palms '.with the larger forest trees bestows. Villages, though far from 
 
 ' continuous, 'as some of the maps of the Irawadi seem to indicate, were pretty numerous 
 
 on either side. Pleasant and cheerful places they looked, generally with one or two solid 
 
 dark monasteries raising their triple roofs above the mingled huts and foliage, and with 
 
 dry-looking turfy hills behind, crowned with pagodas, and ascended by winding paths. 
 
 At Zoung-gyan, before landing, the Envoy sent to seek the headman of the village ; 
 but as he had gone off to report our approach at Maloon, we landed without further 
 ceremony, and walked to the top of a neighbouring hill, thinly wooded with catechu and 
 other trees. From this we had a fine view of the Loon-gyee island, with its park -like 
 foliage, and the embracing arms of the river. This was apparently the prospect that 
 Col. Symes speaks of so enthusiastically.! It was a pleasing landscape, but with no 
 features to justify such high laudation as he bestows. Away from the river bank no 
 villages were visible, but cart-roads passed inland in various directions, and several of 
 the neat carts of the country were seen drawn homeward at a trot by sturdy and well- 
 conditioned red oxen. 
 
 These cattle, though much smaller than the stately breeds of Central India and the 
 Deccan, are considerably larger than the Bengali bullocks, and are more universally in 
 good condition than is the case perhaps in any other country. The carts are small, and 
 the cattle share with their masters in the exemption from everything like overwork. But 
 probably the main reason of their good condition is, that as there is no demand for milk,t 
 the calves are robbed of no part of their natural food. 
 
 * The hills here bear the name of Let-mah-tse-doung, which I believe means " the hills of uuwashen 
 hands," from some Gautamic legend. 
 
 t Embassy to the Kingdom of Ava. 4to. Ed. p. 252. 
 
 % I believe the aversion to milk as an article of food obtains among nearly all the Indo-Chinese and 
 Malay races, including specifically the Kasias of our eastern frontier, the Garos and Nagas, the Burmese, 
 the Sumatran races, and the Javanese. In China itself it is also prevalent, as Sir John Bowring mentions 
 in a letter on the population of China, published in the Journal of the Statistical Society. 
 
 The use of milk has, however, been adopted at the Burmese Court, and the supply is furnished by 
 some families of Kath6 Brahmans, who maintain a number of cows near the capital. But it is a foreign 
 usage. 
 
FROM THE BRITISH FRONTIER TO PAGAN-JITO. 6 
 
 The ground round Zoung-gyan-doung was undulating, and the bottoms only were 
 cultivated. The implement used in preparing dry cultivation such as this ("red pepper 
 being here the intended crop) can scarcely be called a plough. It is rather a single barred 
 harrow, or rake, with three large wooden teeth of tough acacia. A high bow, or loop, of 
 bent wood rises from the cross bar, and enables the ploughman, pressing on the latter with 
 one or both feet, to guide the triple furrow. Near Ava, a plough is used, especially in 
 rice land, more like that of India. 
 
 The ploughing executed by the implement described, though imperfect, was neat and 
 regular, much more so than in common Indian tillage. The process, however, excited the 
 scorn of the Irregular Cavalry Resaladar who accompanied us, a burly Hindustani Zemindar 
 from the Doab. " Truly," said he, " it is by the beneficence of the Almighty only that 
 these people get their food, and by no skill or exertion of their own." The people here 
 complained sadly of the want of rain. No rice had been planted for some years past, and 
 they appeared to think there was but small prospect of a good season now. 
 
 \2ih August. — From our anchorage below Loon-gyee island we passed up the eastern 
 channel. The country on that side exhibits low undulations covered with sparse, small 
 trees, and with little or no sign of cultivation. On the west, the hills recede or shade 
 away, leaving for some distance on the river bank a level covered with rich wood. 
 Reaching a second considerable island, called after Toung-gwen, a village inland on the 
 east bank which gives its name to a small district, we found a little canoe stationed, with 
 men who warned us to keep the western channel. The island, like Loon-gyee, is covered 
 with fine trees, from which rose several considerable temples, some of them apparently of 
 ancient character. Above Toung-gwen the river narrowed to 1200 or 1300 yards, with 
 high woods and banks on both sides, and so continued for two or three miles till we 
 approached Maloon, when it widened and curved eastward. 
 
 Maloon gives its name to a district ; but the residence of the governor has been 
 transferred to Menh'la, some three miles farther up, so we did not land. 
 
 It is now but a small village, standing on the gentle slope of a hill, which rises behind 
 to an apex, crowned with numerous temples of various forms. This hill was the nucleus 
 of the stockade taken in the war of 1826. Near the shore is a cenotaph pagoda, in memory 
 of the celebrated Maha Bundoola. The landscape is beautiful, but little population was 
 visible, and few boats. Patnagoh opposite, which boasts a conspicuous place in most of 
 the maps, is scarcely discernible. A dozen huts are seen among fine trees, and two or 
 tliree boats on the shore; that is all. 
 
 About 1 p.m. we reached Menh'la, and the deputation, appointed by the Court to escort 
 us up the river, at once came on board. The officials composing it had all been members 
 of the Mission to Calcutta in the preceding winter. They were, the Woondouk,* Moung 
 Mlion ; the Governor of Tseen-goo, a quaint little elderly man ; and Makertich, Governor 
 
 * Woondouk — a minister of the second order. In the Hlwot-dau, which is the cabinet and high court 
 of the realm, there are four Woon-gyis, or chief ministers, assisted by as many Woondouks. 
 
 Woon, a governor or minister, has literally the signification of Burthen. Woongyi, Great Woon ; 
 Woon-douk, Prop of the AVoon. 
 
4 JOURNAL OF THE HUSSION 
 
 of the Maloon district, with jurisdiction extending to the frontier, an Armenian by descent, 
 but adopting the dress of the Burmans, from whom he is distinguished by his features, 
 but not by complexion unless by his darker tint. There were besides two -scribes or inferior 
 officers. The party came on board accompanied alongside by five or six war-boats. 
 These, which we now met for the first time, are immense canoes with low sharp bows and 
 high recurving sterns, double-banked, with twenty to thirty rowers on a side, the whole 
 exterior of the hull, and sometimes the oars likewise, being gilt. The crew were rough 
 stalwart fellows with broad conical bamboo hats, and, in some boats, clad in shabby uniform 
 black jackets. Festoons of muslin and tinselled net hang from the high sterns of the war- 
 boats, and a great white banner bordered with silver, and blazoned rudely in the centre 
 
 Fig. 1. 
 
 with the royal peacock, droops gracefully over from a curving bamboo ensign-staff. This 
 staff is generally decorated at the point with a globe of coloured glass, or an inverted 
 English decanter. The latter is a favourite Burmese ornament, and sometimes, even in the 
 humble form of a soda-water bottle, is seen crowning the apex of the Tltee on a pagoda. * 
 
 * The Ittee is the umbrella, or canopy, of gilt iron filagree which crowns every pagoda. " When asked 
 why a bottle is put on a Pagoda Htee," writes Major Phayre, "the Burmese tell you that it is to attract 
 attention from its glitter in the sun. I believe the same practice is followed in Ceylon, and it may have 
 arisen from their knowing glass to be a non-conductor of electric fluid." I confess I thought this last 
 suggestion improbable till I met with the following passage : — " Sanghatissa [who died a.d. 24G], placed a 
 pinnacle of glass on the spire of Ruwanwelli [a dagoba at Anuradhapoora]," as the author of theMahawanso 
 says, "to serve as a protection against lightning." — Forbes' & Ceylon, i. 224. 
 
 There seems to turn up now and then in the science of the Buddhists a very curious parody, as it 
 were, or chance suggestion, of some of the great truths or speculations of modern science ; just as there 
 are circumstances of their religion which seem to run parallel with circumstances and forms of Christianity 
 or Christian churches, and which made the old Jesuit fathers think that the Devil had of malice afore- 
 thought prepared these travesties of Christian rites and mysteries among the heathen, in order to cast 
 ridicule on the church and bar its progress. 
 
 An example of what I allude to is found here as regards electricity, in the apparent knowledge of the 
 non-conducting power of glass. In the Buddhist theory of the universe we have an infinity of contem- 
 porary systems each provided with its sun and planets, analogous to the commonly received opinion of 
 the plurality of worlds. We have also their infinite succession of creations and destructions by fire or 
 
FROM THE BEITISH FRONTIER TO PAGAN-MYO. 5 
 
 A short staff rising from the stern of the war-boat bears this sacred and royal emblem 
 of the Htee. The dignified occupant of the boat sits not in the stern sheets as with us, 
 but on a little platform at the prow, shaded by a slight canopy of matting. 
 
 The deputation having come on the deck of the flat, a conversation of some length 
 took place, in which the Woondouk begged Major Phayre to consider him as a near 
 relation, and to tell him the most intimate thoughts of his heart; after which, the whole 
 party landed, and went to return the visit at Makertich's residence. This was a very neat 
 structure of bamboo on wooden posts, inside a high bamboo inclosure, as is the usual 
 Burman fashion. An elevated reception-room, open in front, was lined with Indian carpets 
 for the conference. Behind were the muskets of the Governor's guard, neatly racked. 
 His private dwelling was a small place on one side of the court, from which the women 
 peeped out at the Kalds ;* the offices and guards were in other buildings round the 
 inclosure. 
 
 In the evening Makertich accompanied us in a walk round the town. It is quite new, 
 having been re-established on an old site since he took up the government of the district, 
 six months before our visit. It was decidedly the neatest town, and the most thriving 
 in appearance, that we had seen in Burma, British or foreign, if we except Rangoon, f 
 Makertich stated that people had come to him from his old district of Pegu, of which he 
 had been governor before the war, and also from Thayet-myo. 
 
 The town consists at present of one long row of houses towards the river, a double 
 street behind, and a third commencing in rear, with a short cross-street at intervals. 
 Along the river a wide strand is left unoccupied, an advantage which the Burmese almost 
 universally neglect, and on this strand grow many very noble trees, such as the simid, % 
 tamarind, and different kinds of Ficus, affording a continuous shade. The other streets 
 are smooth, wide, and dry. The number of houses was stated at 1000, and could scarcely 
 be guessed lower. The continuity of the town is broken by a group of monasteries and 
 pagodas, which occupy a part of the river bank, shadowed by a grove of tamarind, 
 palmyra, and talipat trees. 
 
 Some of the pagodas were of a quaint structure, different from the conical or rather 
 
 water, analogous to a formerly popular geological theory. They hold the circulation of the blood after a 
 fashion. The king's conversations at Amarapoora indicated his belief in the atomic constitution of the 
 body, and of the existence of a microscopic world, though his illustrations were not accurate. And when 
 Mr. Crawfurd published his account of fossil elephant bones from the Irawadi, Colonel Burney tells us 
 that the Burmese philosophers expressed much satisfaction at the discovery, as establishing the doctrine 
 of their books. These taught that in former times there were ten species of elephants, but that the 
 smallest species alone survived. (Gleanings in Science, ii. p. 199.) 
 
 * Kald means, in the first place, a native of India ; and, secondly, any Western foreigner, such as an 
 Arab or European. Major Phayre supposes the word to have been the name applied to the aboriginal 
 inhabitants of India, which we still trace in the names of Kfdis, Kols, and other forest tribes of the 
 Peninsula. 
 
 It is probably the same as the Kling of the Malays, the name which they apply to natives of India ; 
 and which again points to the ancient kingdom of Kalinga. 
 
 f The Envoy made here a marginal protest in favour of Prome. 
 
 X The Cotton-tree of Anglo-Indians. 
 
b JOURNAL OF THE MISSION 
 
 bell-shaped model, which is almost stereotype in Pegu. Where that pattern is departed 
 from, the foundation of the design appears often to be derived from the ecclesiastical 
 buildings of timber, and the plaster ornamentation to be based on the carved work of the 
 latter. Some of this plaster-work showed considerable boldness of design; the scroll 
 parapets of the staircases terminating as usual in monstrous heads of tigers or alligators. 
 
 13i/* August. We started about half-past six, after an early visit from the deputation, 
 an inconvenient custom which they continued to practise during our voyage. As the war- 
 boats afford so little space for the accommodation of a passenger, the Woondouk and his 
 companions occupied two barges, which the war-boats took in tow. These barges had, in 
 the superstructure, much the appearance of an Indian budgerow. The hull seemed to be 
 of English build. They were entirely painted white, the royal colour ; and at the fore 
 angles of the cabin were erected the gold umbrellas of the occupants. A veranda in front 
 of the cabin was hung with drapery of a roughly embroidered broad-cloth. 
 
 At Menh'la, boats were numerous, and there were some fine specimens of the larger 
 craft of the Irawadi. Two of these could scarcely have been less than 120 or 130 tons 
 in burden. 
 
 Two kinds of vessels, of entirely diffei'ent structure, are used on the river. These 
 larger boats were of the kind called Hnau, which is the most common. The model is 
 
 nearly the same for all sizes, from 
 the merest dinghy upwards. The 
 keel-piece is a single tree hollowed 
 out, and stretched by the aid of 
 fire when green, a complete canoe 
 in fact From this, ribs and plank- 
 ing are carried up. The bow is 
 low with beautiful hollow lines, 
 strongly resembling those of our 
 finest modern steamers. The stern 
 rises high above the water, and 
 below the run is drawn out fine to 
 an edge. A high bench or plat- 
 form for the steersman, elaborately carved, is an indispensable appendage. The rudder 
 is a large paddle lashed to the larboard quarter, and having a short tiller passing athwart 
 the steersman's bench. 
 
 The most peculiar part of the arrangement of these vessels is in the spars and rigging. 
 The mast consists of two spars ; it is in fact a pair of shears, bolted and lashed to two posts 
 rising out of the keel-piece, so that it can be let down, or unshipped altogether, with little 
 difficulty.* Above the mainyard the two pieces run into one, forming the topmast 
 
 Fig. 2. 
 
 * Nearly the same kind of mast is used by the celebrated Illanon pirates of the Eastern 
 Archipelago. When chased they are thus enabled to run into a creek and drop the mast instanta- 
 
FROM THE BRITISH FRONTIER TO PAGAN-MYO. 
 
 Wooden rounds run as ratlines from one spar of the mast to the other, forming a ladder 
 for going aloft. 
 
 The yard is a bamboo, or a line of spliced bamboos, of enormous length, and being 
 perfectly flexible is suspended 
 from the mast-head by nu- 
 merous guys or halyards, so 
 as to curve upwards in an 
 inverted bow. A rope runs 
 along this, from which the 
 huge mainsail is suspended, 
 running on rings like a curtain 
 outwards both ways from the 
 mast. There is a small topsail 
 of similar arrangement. 
 
 The sail-cloth used is the 
 common light cotton stuff for 
 clothing. Of any heavier ma- 
 terial it would be impossible 
 to carry the enormous spread 
 of sail which distinguishes these 
 boats. At Menh'la one vessel 
 was lying so close to the shore 
 that I was enabled to pace Fig. 3. 
 
 the length of the half-yard. I 
 
 found it to be 65 feet, or for the length of the whole spar, neglecting the curve, 130 
 feet. The area of the mainsail in this case could not have been very much less than 4000 
 square feet, or one-eleventh of an acre. 
 
 These boats can scarcely sail, of course, except before the wind. But in ascending the 
 Ir'awadi, as on the Ganges during the rainy season, the wind is almost always favourable. 
 A fleet of them speeding before the wind with the sunlight on their bellying sails has a 
 splendid though fantastic appearance. With their vast spreading wings and almost invisible 
 hulls, they look like a flight of colossal butterflies skimming the water. 
 
 The other description of boat is called Pein-go. It is said to be the peculiar craft of the 
 Ningthe or Kyendwen river. Though it traffics to all parts of the Irawadi we first took 
 particular notice of it at Ye-nan-gyoung, where it is extensively used for the transport of 
 petroleum. It is flat-bottomed or nearly so, having no canoe or keel-piece like the Iinau, 
 but being entirely composed of planks which extend throughout the length of the vessel, 
 wide in the middle, and tapering to stem and stern like the staves of a cask. A wide 
 
 neously, so that it gives no guidance to their whereabouts. The coincidences in customs between the 
 Islanders and the Indo-Chinese races of the Continent are very many, though some Ethnologists have 
 classed them apart. 
 
JOURNAL OF THE MISSION 
 
 gallery or sponson of bamboo, doubling the apparent beam of the boat, runs the whole 
 circuit of the gunnel. These boats, I believe, are generally propelled by oars or pole, though 
 
 Fig. 4. 
 
 occasionally carrying sail, but not the same spread of cloth as the Hnau. 
 
 I have no doubt that the germs of these two kinds of vessel, so different as to appear the 
 
 inventions of distinct races, 
 are to be found in two as 
 different types of canoe, both 
 of which are common on the 
 Irawadi.* 
 
 Just above Menh'la the 
 stream runs with great vio- 
 lence, and the steamers for 
 nearly an hour made little or 
 no way. Bold cliffs of red 
 sandstone rose on the left, 
 with lovely little grassy nooks 
 between, and fine wood clus- 
 tering round the base of the 
 rocks, and overshadowing the eddies. A small pagoda, which stood on the very verge 
 and most prominent point of the cliff, appeared to be the same which was mentioned thirty 
 years ago by Crawfurd, under the name of Myenka-taoung, as threatened every season 
 
 Fig. 5. 
 
 * Some of these canoes are ludicrously small in proportion to the number of persons which they 
 carry. Mr. Ruskin says {Modern Painters, iii. 319), " The impossibly small boats which might be par- 
 doned in a mere illumination, representing the miraculous draught of fishes, become, whatever may be 
 said to the contrary, inexcusably absurd in Raphael's fully realized landscape ; so as at once to destroy 
 the credibility of every circumstance of the event." Whether such boats are likely to have been used by 
 fishermen on the sea of Galilee is another question, but the " inexcusable absurdity" of the Burmese in 
 using such "impossibly small" boats was often witnessed by our party in the "realized landscape" of the 
 Irawadi, and as often recalled to mind the cartoon which Mr. Ruskin criticises. 
 
FROM THE BRITISH FRONTIER TO PAGAN-MYO. 
 
 9 
 
 by the river. According to the same author, it marks the spot where Chaulu, a king of 
 Pagan, was assassinated about the year 1056. 
 
 We stopped at Men-goon (" the site of the rustic palace "), a considerable village of 200 
 to 300 houses on the east bank, two miles above Menh'la, to relieve the war-boats by taking 
 the barges of the deputation in tow. Here the whole population was collected on the bank, 
 awnings were spread, flags were flying, and a Burmese band playing with full power. The 
 golden boats, and others less brilliant but of similarly centipedal appearance, circled round 
 the ships and manoeuvred to and fro, whilst their rowers shouted and yelled in chorus, with 
 an added din of clashing cymbals, braying clarionets, and bamboo clappers ; two or three 
 demoniac figures the while gesticulating and dancing furiously on the benches of each boat, 
 and all working themselves into intense excitement. The whole recalled strongly some of 
 the scenes represented in the old plates to Cook's Voyages, and one felt as if transported to 
 Owhyhee or Honolulu, instead of visiting an ancient empire of India beyond the Ganges. 
 
 Not far above Men-goon, the river begins to change its aspect, and assumes that form 
 of a spreading channel, from two to five miles wide, embracing numerous alluvial islands, 
 which it retains at least as far as the mouth of the Kyendwen. 
 
 Along the whole of this distance, on the eastward, elevated country hugs the stream, 
 and generally rises from the water in bold decided banks, or cliffs of red soil. Near the 
 river it is ravined and very undulating ; farther inland it rises in long slopes and rolling 
 ridges. We see that we are no longer within the regular influence of the July rains. 
 From Prome upwards the vegetation has been rapidly losing its rich tropical character, 
 and now these uplands are merely dotted with sparse and stunted trees and bushes, con- 
 sisting largely of the ber and khyr of India (the zizyphus jujuba and the acacia catechu), of 
 the gaunt and formal euphorbia, generally indicative of a dry inhospitable soil, and of the 
 pale sickly madar, which appears to haunt every unfruitful spot in British India from ; 
 Peshawur to Pegu. 
 
 These uplands sink at pretty frequent intervals into decided valleys running at right 
 angles to the Irawadi, into which they discharge the drainage of the interior by broad 
 shallow sandy channels, always dry, excepting immediately after heavy rain. The 
 debouchements of these little rivers, always marked by palm-groves and clusters of noble 
 trees, are generally the sites of snug-looking villages, which with their little environment 
 of ploughed fields and tidy fences form a pleasant contrast to the barren hills that shut 
 them in. 
 
 North of Pagan this upland still exists, but is less elevated, seems somewhat less bare 
 and barren, and is separated from the river by a greater or less extent of fruitful soil. 
 
 On the west bank of the river, the high bank ceases at Memboo (eighteen miles above 
 Menh'la), and an extensive alluvial plain stretches into the interior between the river and 
 the outer spurs of the Aracan mountains, the greater part of which lies in the district of 
 Tsalen, one of the richest and most populous subdivisions of the Burmese kingdom. This 
 level is broken for twelve or fifteen miles nearly opposite Pagan by a serrated range of 
 sandstone hills rising from the bank of the river to a height of 800 or 900 feet, and strongly 
 resembling in aspect another isolated range which rises inland some six or seven miles 
 
10 JOURNAL OF THE MISSION 
 
 from the eastern bank. Northward the plain reappears, and continues up the west shore 
 of the Irawadi to the mouth of the Kyendwen, where it runs into the alluvial valley of 
 that river. 
 
 Leaving Men-goon, after some hours' navigation among the islands, we passed on the 
 west the long village of Yu-theiya. The barren hills north of it are crowned with the very 
 numerous white pagodas of Kwe-zo, some of them ascended by long staircases from below. 
 A little farther, and these hills shade away, near Memboo, into the wide alluvial plain. 
 
 Memboo is the nearest point on the Irawadi to the Aeng pass ; and a road runs from 
 this to Ma-p'hc at the foot of the pass, as well as to the now British town of Men-doon, 
 from which passes lead to Maee in Aracan, across the mountains. The Aeng road is 
 however considered to debouche at Semphyo-gyoon much farther north, on the direct line 
 from Ma-p'he to Ava. The Aracan range was visible on this and several following days, 
 but never distinctly. 
 
 . The Envoy to-day prohibited the use of white umbrellas, which the Woondouk said 
 would, if displayed as they had been, appear disrespectful to the king, by whom alone an 
 umbrella of that colour can be used. 
 
 Our daily journeys had been marked out for us by the Burmese authorities ; and at 
 almost every stage preparation had been made for our reception and entertainment. The 
 day's stage was generally short enough to afford a few hours of daylight, either before 
 departure or after arrival, an arrangement in which all rejoiced. 
 
 Our first halt in company with the Ava deputation was at Magwe, which we reached 
 early in the afternoon. This was the largest town in the Burmese territory that we had 
 yet seen. Some 200 or 300 boats of all sorts and sizes were lying at the ghats, and 
 the number of houses was said by the Woondouk to be 3000, which did not seem much 
 over the mark. 
 
 We landed, and were conducted to a large bamboo edifice, where we found some two 
 hundred well-dressed people assembled in front of us as we sat on the bamboo platform. 
 These were the heads of towns and villages in the district, with their attendants, who had 
 been summoned to do us honour. 
 
 After the party broke up, the Envoy proceeded with the Woondouk to visit the 
 principal temple of Magwe, called Mya-Thahcon (or "the Emerald couch"), from being 
 reputed to contain a relic of the bed of Gautama. It stands on a high commanding 
 summit over the river. The Myo-thoogyee, or Mayor of the place, has lately executed 
 an expensive work for the security of the temple, which the Irawadi threatened. 
 Several tiers of piles have been driven along the foot of the bank, and a brick revetment 
 of forty or fifty feet in height raised under the base of the pagoda. 
 
 In going towards the town, from the ghat where the steamers lay, a handsome specimen 
 of a Burmese bridge was passed. The Burmans are, in this matter, in advance of the 
 natives of India, and these bridges are seldom wanting near villages where nullas or 
 inundated fields obstruct the communication. They are sometimes of extraordinary 
 length. The construction I have never seen to vary. Large teak posts are driven in 
 pairs or triplets, with bays between not exceeding twelve or thirteen feet. Mortice-holes 
 
FROM THE BRITISH FRONTIER TO PAGAN-MYO. 
 
 11 
 
 are cut through these posts, in which cross-bearers are laid, with beams and solid planking 
 over these, and a railing is added, which in this case was of handsomely turned balusters. 
 
 Fig. 6. 
 
 I believe no substitute for a pile-engine is used in fixing these posts, which nevertheless 
 appear to stand well. 
 
 The cottages in the suburbs of the town were good, and almost all were provided with 
 a large porch, or trellis-shed, over which gourd and cucumber vines were trained. 
 
 The principal houses along the main street wei-e occupied by armed men, whose swords 
 and muskets were racked along the verandas. Large numbers of ponies were being led 
 about the town ; and the owners botli of arms and ponies were doubtless the militia of the 
 district, who had been summoned, with their village chiefs, to make a proper impression on 
 us. We estimated the display of arms to amount to about 500 stand. 
 
 From most of the shops the wares had been withdrawn, and it struck us that there was 
 an air of doubt and discomfort on the faces of the people, as well as a silence most alien to 
 the Burman character, as if they mistrusted the object of our coming. In fact, absurd 
 rumours of the meaning and strength of our expedition had been spread extensively, both 
 in our territories and in the king's. 
 
 Scarcely any women were visible in the town ; no usual circumstance either in Burma. 
 The air of distrust we never noticed again ; but the concealment of the women continued, 
 more or less, till we got much nearer the capital. I believe it was enjoined by the local 
 authorities, probably at the suggestion of the Woondouk. 
 
 Magwe consists of one main street, with a number of minor streets behind; and though 
 the number of houses was perhaps too highly estimated at 3000, I do not think the popula- 
 tion can be probably reckoned at less than 8000 or 9000. 
 
 Leaving the town, we found in rear an open rolling country, divided into fields by 
 
1 2 JOURNAL OF TIIE MISSION 
 
 hedges, or fences of dead jujube bushes. These fields were chiefly sown with sesamum. 
 The roads and compounds in the exterior of the town were also all substantially fenced, and 
 the whole aspect of things was one associated with an idea of unexpected civilization. 
 
 A conspicuous series of ecclesiastical roofs, tier over tier, dark and massive, had 
 attracted our attention from the river. We found them to belong to two large monastic 
 buildings of plain but very solid structure, with a wooden thein, or chapel for the con- 
 secration of the priesthood, and finally a pagoda. The whole area, including an extensive 
 compound, was enclosed in a very massive teak fence of squared posts and rails, some 
 seven or eight feet high. In one corner were nearly a dozen detached little buildings of 
 the same architectural character as the rest, another indication of manners more akin to 
 those of Europe than of India. 
 
 The thein was the most beautiful and elaborate building of its kind yet seen by us in 
 Burma; nor did we find it excelled till we became acquainted with the gorgeous monas- 
 teries in the environs of Amarapoora, and then rather in splendour than in art. 
 
 The carving of the eaves and gables in this case was exquisite, both in design and 
 execution, and bore very close inspection. The interior panels of the ceiling were also 
 set with frames of carved work that, in design at least, would have done no discredit to 
 Gibbons himself; and if we had not his favourite woodcock, there were at least pheasants 
 and peacocks, with elaborate plumage, so cut as to appear to underlie the beautiful scrolls 
 of foliage which filled up the compartment. 
 
 The back and base of the thein were of brickwork, in the usual style of moulding, but 
 of unusually good execution, the base being surrounded by three tiers of trefoil heads as 
 parapets. 
 
 Outside the building were planted posts of the petrified wood which so abounds in the 
 districts of the Irawadi. These were noble specimens, some of them standing four and 
 a half or five feet out of the ground, and not less than fifteen inches in diameter. The 
 sight of these posts, which at the distance of a few feet were not distinguishable from recent 
 timber, explained to us the origin of stories about posts of Kyoungs* seen in a state of half- 
 completed petrifaction, which were very current both in Sir Archibald Campbell's camp in 
 1826, and in General Godwin's in 1853.f 
 
 These posts mark the holy precincts. For every thein is holy ground, and the ground 
 on which it stands has been holy ever since the commencement of the Buddhist faith. If 
 a new thein is abotit to be established, the founders generally contrive to dig up some trace 
 of a former thein, or other indication of previous consecration (just as Ambrose contrived 
 to dig up the blood of the Martyrs Gervasius and Protasius at Milan), but modem conse- 
 
 * K young, a Buddhist monastery. 
 
 t For instance, in the best personal narrative of the first Burmese war (Captain Trant's) it is said, 
 " in several instances the wooden pillars which supported the Kioums and other buildings were found to 
 be completely petrified at the base of the column, whilst a little higher up the change was only com- 
 mencing, and at the summit the wood preserved its ordinary qualities." {Two Years in Ava, p. 240.) At 
 Prome in 1853, several officers assured me that a similar phenomenon was to be seen at one of the 
 Kyoungs adjoining that city. But I did not succeed in discovering it. 
 
FROM THE BRITISH FRONTIER TO PAGAN-MYO. 
 
 13 
 
 cration is admitted only on some rare occasions, when the king grants authority to build 
 a new thein, and thus dedicates the ground to religion. * 
 
 This thein was finally surrounded by a fence of elaborate turned rails and gates. The 
 finials which crowned the centre posts of the latter were themselves beautiful examples of 
 carved work. These Burmans have in a high degree that artistic instinct of adorning the 
 necessary members of a construction, an instinct which now scarcely exists in England. 
 
 The Pagoda behind was remarkable only for the tasteful and unusually accurate execu- 
 tion of its details. For in modern Burmese brickwork, symmetry and parallelism are 
 things generally treated with much contempt. 
 
 Sitting down to sketch the group of buildings from the steps of one of the monasteries, 
 we were immediately surrounded by a mob of monks and their pupils, all very inquisitive 
 and good-humoured. When we offered to introduce any one of them in the sketch, he 
 invariably advanced so close as to touch the artist's face, and could not understand that he 
 must be farther off to be seen. 
 
 This evening the members of the mission (as such at least) made their first acquaintance 
 with the Burmese Drama ; an entertainment which from this time would occupy a very 
 large place in the daily history of our proceedings if all were registered. 
 
 The Governor had provided both a puppet-play and a regular dramatic performance 
 for our benefit, and on this first occasion of the kind the Envoy thought it right that we 
 should visit both. 
 
 Each performance was attended by a full Burmese orchestra. The principal instru- 
 ments belonging to this are very remarkable, and, as far as I know, peculiar to Burma. 
 
 The chief instrument in size and 
 power is that called in Burmese Pat- 
 tshaing, and which I can only name in 
 English as a Drum-Harmonicon. It 
 consists of a circular tub-like frame 
 about thirty inches high and four 
 feet six inches in diameter. This 
 frame is formed of separate wooden 
 staves fancifully carved, and fitting 
 by tenon into a hoop which keeps 
 them in place. Round the interior of 
 the frame are suspended vertically 
 some eighteen or twenty drums, or 
 tom-toms, graduated in tone, and in 
 size from about two and a half inches diameter up to ten 
 
 Fig. 7. 
 In tuning the instrument 
 
 * This propensity to attribute a pre-existing sanctity to the sites of holy buildings appears to be 
 common in Buddhism. Thus in Ceylon ; " in ages of impenetrable antiquity the plain on which Anura- 
 dhapoora was afterwards built had acquired a sacred character ; for it is recorded that when the first . 
 Budha of the present era visited this place, he found it already hallowed as a scene of the ancient religious 
 rites of preceding generations, and consecrated by Budhas of a former age." Forbefs Ceylon, i. 207. 
 
14 
 
 JOUKNAL OF THE MISSION 
 
 Kg. 8. 
 
 the tone of each drum is modified as required by the application of a little moist clay 
 with a sweep of the thumb, in the centre of the parchment. The whole system then 
 forms a sort of harmonicon, on which the performer, squatted in the middle, plays with the 
 natural plectra of his fingers and palms, and with great dexterity and musical effect. 
 
 Another somewhat similar instrument consists of a system of small gongs, arranged 
 
 between two concentric circular 
 frames. In this case the outer 
 frame, which is carved like that 
 of the Pat-tshaing, is about four 
 feet diameter by fourteen inches 
 high. The player sits within the 
 inner circle and strikes the gongs 
 with small drumsticks. This in- 
 strument is one of singular sweet- 
 ness and melody. 
 
 In a theatre of respectable 
 
 pretensions there are generally 
 
 two sets of these instruments, each 
 
 with its minor accompaniments to 
 
 form the orchestra, one set being 
 
 placed on each side of the scene. 
 
 The remaining instruments consist of two or three clarionets with broad brass mouths 
 
 and a vile penny-trumpet tone ; cymbals ; sometimes a large tom-tom : and invariably 
 
 several clappers of split bamboo which make themselves heard, in excellent time, but 
 
 always too liberally. 
 
 The instruments used in what we may call concert music, as distinguished from the 
 
 dramatic orchestra, are dif- 
 ferent from those we have 
 described. The principal are 
 the harp, and the bamboo 
 harmonicon. The harp (Fig. 
 9) is held across the lap when 
 played, the curved horn being 
 to the left, and the right 
 hand passed round and over 
 
 the strings, instead of being 
 kept upright like the Welsh 
 harp. It has a sounding- 
 board of rounded buffalo 
 leather, and thirteen strings 
 of silk. Like the ancient 
 
 Fig. 9. 
 
 Egyptian harp of Brace's celebrated tomb, it has no pillar or front to the frame. Tasselled 
 
FltOM THE BlilTISH FKONTIKR TO TAGAN-MYO. 
 
 15 
 
 cords attached to the ends of the strings and twisted round the curved head, serve for 
 tuning. This is done by pushing them up or down, so that the curvature of the head 
 increases or diminishes the tension. These cords are at the same time ornamental 
 appendages to the harp. This harp is a pleasing instrument by itself, but it is usually 
 only an accompaniment to unmelodious chants of intolerable prolixity. 
 
 The bamboo harmonicon or staccato is a curious example of the production of melody 
 by simple and unexpected means. Its use, though unknown in India, extends throughout 
 the Eastern Archipelago ; * and something similar is possessed, I believe, by the negro slaves 
 in Brazil. Eighteen to twenty-four flat slips of bamboo, about an inch and a half broad, 
 and of graduated length, are strung upon 
 a double string and suspended in a cate- 
 nary over the mouth of a trough-like 
 sounding box. The roundish outside of 
 the bamboo is uppermost, and whilst the 
 extremities of the slips are left to their 
 original thickness, the middle part of each 
 is thinned and hollowed out below. The 
 tuning is accomplished partly by the 
 regulation of this thinning of the middle 
 part. The scale so formed is played with 
 one or two drumsticks, and the instrument 
 is one of very mellow and pleasing tone. 
 Though the materials are of no value, a 
 good old harmonicon is prized by the 
 owner, like a good old Cremona, and he can rarely be induced to part with it. 
 
 There was one example at the Capital, of a similar instrument formed of slips of iron 
 or steel. It was said to have been made by the august hands of King Tharawadee himself, 
 who, like Louis Seize, was abler as a smith than as a king. The effect was not unpleasing, 
 and strongly resembled that of a large Geneva musical box, but it was far inferior in 
 sweetness to the bamboo instrument 
 
 Another instrument used in these concerts is a long cylindrical guitar of three strings, 
 shaped like an alligator and so named. It is placed on the ground before the performer. 
 
 Fig. 10. 
 
 Fig. 11. 
 
 * In Java they have a number of such instruments made both in wood and metal, and only 
 slightly differing from one another, but distinguished by different names : (see plate of them in Raffles, 
 vol. ii.) 
 
16 JOURNAL OF THE MISSION 
 
 But to return to our drama. 
 
 The stage of the Burmese theatre is the ground, generally spread with mats. On one, 
 two, or three sides are raised bamboo platforms for the more distinguished spectators ; the 
 plebs crowd in and squat upon the ground in all vacant spaces. 
 
 In the middle of the stage arena, stuck into the ground, or lashed to one of the poles 
 supporting the roof, is always a small tree, or rather a large branch of a tree, which, like 
 the altar on the Greek stage, forms a sort of centre to the action. I never could learn the 
 real meaning of this tree. The answer usually was that it was there in case a scene in a 
 garden or forest should occur. But there is no other attempt at the representation of scenic 
 locality, and I have a very strong impression that this tree has had some other meaning 
 and origin, now probably forgotten. 
 
 The foot-lights generally consisted of several earthen pots full of petroleum, or of 
 cotton-seed soaked in petroleum, which stood on the ground blazing and flaring round the 
 symbolic tree, and were occasionally replenished with a ladleful of oil by one of the per- 
 formers. On one side or both was the orchestra, such as it has been described, and near 
 it generally stood a sort of bamboo horse or stand, on which were suspended a variety of 
 grotesque masques. The property-chest of the company occupied another side of the stage, 
 and constantly did duty as a throne for the royal personages who figure so abundantly in 
 their plays. 
 
 Indeed kings, princes, princesses, and their ministers and courtiers, are the usual dramatic 
 characters. As to the plot, we usually found it very difficult to obtain the slightest idea 
 of it. A young prince was almost always there as the hero, and he as constantly had a 
 clownish servant, a sort of Shaksperian Lance, half fool, half wit, who did the " comic 
 business" with immense success among the native audience, as their rattling and unanimous 
 peals of laughter proved. It was in this character only that anything to be called acting 
 was to be seen, and that was often highly humorous, and appreciable even without under- 
 standing the dialogue. Then there was always a princess whom the prince was in love 
 with. The interminable prolixity of dialogue was beyond all conception and endurance. 
 What came of it all, we could not tell. I doubt if any one could ; for with the usual rate 
 at which the action advances it must have taken several weeks to arrive at a denouement* 
 
 Much of the dialogue was always in singing, and in those parts the attitudes, action, 
 and sustained wailings, had a savour of the Italian opera which was intensely comical at 
 first. Dancing by both the male and female characters was often interspersed, or combined 
 with the action. The female characters in the towns more remote from the capital were 
 often personated by boys, but so naturally that we were indisposed at first to credit it. j 
 
 * Mr. Crawfurd mentions in his mission to Siam, that a Siamese play founded on the Ramayana took 
 three weeks to act ! 
 
 We are less patient than our ancestors. When Sir David Lyndsay's Satire of the Three Estates was 
 recited at Edinburgh in the days of King James V., the audience listened with enjoymenl from nine a.m. 
 till six in the evening. 
 
 t This is also common in the somewhat similar dances of the Javanese (Raffles, ii. 242), and is the 
 universal practice on the Chinese stage ; as it was in the days of the Eoman republic, and of the early 
 English theatre. 
 
 -» <* 
 

 DC 
 O 
 
 Id 
 
 in 
 
 J3 
 
 oa 
 
t t ce ,t(i 
 
FROM THE BRITISH FRONTIER TO PAGAX-MYO. 17 
 
 The puppet plays seem to be even more popular among the Burmese than the ■ 
 live drama. For these little performers an elevated stage of bamboos and mats is 
 provided, generally some thirty feet long. This affords room for a transfer of the 
 scene of action, and very commonly one end of the stage was furnished with a throne 
 to represent the court, whilst the other had two or three little branches to represent 
 the forest. 
 
 The style of play acted by these marionnettes seemed to us very similar to that of the 
 large actors, and was equally prolix in its dialogue and operatic episodes. But I fancied 
 that more often in the former there was a tendency to the supernatural ; to the introduction 
 of enchanted princesses, dragons, nats,* and flying chariots, probably from the greater 
 facility of producing the necessary effects on the small scale. Some of the puppet plays too 
 were " mysteries" founded on the history of Gautama, which possibly it would not have 
 been admissible for living actors to perform, f 
 
 The puppets are from ten to fifteen inches high and are rather skilfully manipulated. 
 Not seldom however they got entangled, and then the large brown arm of the Deus ex 
 machind was seen descending from the dramatic welkin to solve the nodus. Or a pair of 
 huge legs striding across the stage, with a view to the adjustment of the foot-lights 
 perfectly realized Gulliver in Lilliput. 
 
 It has sometimes been said that in a Burmese play you will never hear an indecent 
 word or see an indecent action. As to words I cannot speak ; that indecent action was 
 comparatively rare, in our experience of the dramatic representations which were so 
 abundantly forced on us in our journey up the river, and in the first days of our residence 
 at the capital, may be admitted; that it would have been prevented from becoming 
 frequent may be supposed. But it did occur, and seemed to be to the taste of the native 
 audience. On this subject, I may quote from the MS. Journal of Mr. Oldham, who had 
 travelled for some months in the Tenasserim provinces, and had a much larger experience 
 in the Burmese drama than I had. 
 
 " I have now seen a good many of their pue"s,\ and independently altogether of the 
 absolute impossibility, as it appears to me, of imagining a people in their present state 
 of civilization, and with the loose notions of marriage that they have, not having such 
 things as some of the lax enjoyments in which they revel in private life represented 
 on the stage, I can speak from actual experience and say that it could scarcely be 
 possible to imagine anything more abominable than some of their conceptions and 
 representations without altering the conditions from those of scenic representation to 
 actual life." 
 
 Major Phayre, a very high authority it must be admitted, strongly protests against 
 the view here expressed. He observes, in a note with which he has favoured me, as 
 
 * Sprites, corresponding to the Hindu dewas, whose place they take in the Burman Buddhist system. 
 They are supposed to have been the objects of Burruan worship in pre-Buddhistic times. 
 
 t A partial translation of a Burmese play, kindly furnished to me by Major Phayre, will be found in 
 the Appendix. 
 
 \ Plays. 
 
 D 
 
18 JOURNAL OF THE MISSION 
 
 follows: — "These remarks, if supposed to be true of the Burmese national character, or 
 of their real and constant drama, require a strong corrective. I have now seen a good 
 many Burmese plays, and I declare, as a man of honour, that I never saw anything 
 approaching to indecency, except when there was a sprinkling of Europeans. And I have 
 not the slightest doubt but that the indecent actions I allude to were supposed to be con- 
 formable to the tastes of their civilized visitors. I have been at numbers of these enter- 
 tainments where I was the only European, and then never saw anything of the kind. I 
 have witnessed broad and coarse scenes certainly, and heard indelicate allusions, but most 
 certainly not worse than I have seen in booths at English fairs, roared at by a rude 
 audience. In one of the plays we were present at something rather broad was exhibited, 
 (out of compliment to our tastes !), and what was the remark of the Woondouk to me ? 
 ' You will not see anything of that kind at the capital. Here it passes among rude people. 
 How could one sit at a play with one's wife and daughter, were anything improper 
 exhibited ? ' 
 
 " What I object to is Oldham's remark being supposed a true one with reference to 
 Burmese taste and practice. As you say, ' It seemed to be to the taste of the audience.' 
 Take indiscriminately any company of English folks, put them in a theatre, and let such a 
 scene as we witnessed be exhibited. There would be a loud shout at once." 
 
 Now for the other side. Mr. Oldham, having seen the question mooted elsewhere, sent 
 me another note in which he clearly established, from what he himself witnessed in a per- 
 formance at Maulmain by a party of actors from Rangoon, the fact that things for which 
 indecency would be far too mild a name were there exhibited, not as extemporised inter- 
 ludes, but as part and parcel of the substantive plot of the play, and that they were so 
 was confirmed by his having the opportunity of examining with a competent interpreter the 
 text of two of the pieces, in which the whole was laid down, with stage directions of the 
 grossest character, and with graphic illustrations of the most filthy kind, needing no 
 interpreter. In this case I think Major Phayre cannot build much on the circum- 
 stance that the representation took place in a British dependency. These things are 
 brought forward as facts, not as subjects for futile comparisons. We are in no position 
 to throw stones in this matter, and need not go back to Wycherley and Mrs. Behn 
 for stage immoralities. 
 
 The true reconciliation of the controversy no doubt lies in the fact that there is a high 
 and a low in the Burmese drama. It does not follow from Mr. Oldham's evidence that 
 His Majesty the " Great King of Justice" with his courtiers would tolerate the ribaldry 
 which delights Maulmain. 
 
 14i/t August. — We started about 6| A.M., and reached our halting-place at Ye-nan- 
 gyoung at 2 \ p.m. 
 
 We hugged the eastern bank for the greater part of the distance. This, from the 
 Mya-tha-lwon Pagoda about Magwe\ became very bold, consisting of a succession of sand- 
 stone and clay cliffs, cut by the rain into a quasi-stalactitic form. The country behind 
 appears to be of a rolling character with brushwood, sparse trees, some good herbage, and 
 occasional fields divided by dry thorn-hedges, which had in the distance a home-like 
 
FKOM THE BRITISH FRONTIER TO PAGAN-MYO. 19 
 
 appearance. Clumps of wood nestled in the ravines which at frequent intervals ran down 
 through the cliffs to the shore. The character of these ravines and the heights between 
 them, strongly reminded me of the rugged country on the Jumna below Agra. Occa- 
 sionally there were wider openings discharging water-courses of some breadth, now showing 
 wide sandy beds. In the first part of the voyage many of the nooks contained villages, 
 each with its two or three noble trees, and its grove of palms ; palmyra, talipat, or cocoa- 
 nut. Much fossil wood was visible on the beach at the foot of the sandstone cliffs, some- 
 times in pieces of four or five feet long. 
 
 The aspect of Ye-nan-gyoung [Fetid-water-rivulet, from the petroleum which is so 
 called in Burmese) was striking and fantastic, like what one imagines a Chinese town. 
 This aspect is derived from the numerous pagodas and many-roofed sacred buildings which 
 crown the eminences, in the hollows between which the houses of the town are scattered. 
 Immediately below these eminences is the river from which the town is named, dry at 
 present as regards internal supply, but filled, to some distance, from the Irawadi, and 
 serving as a boat harbour. Here the war-boats and barges of the deputation were moored, 
 and on the flat of the sandy channel the theatre and reception-room was erected. A little 
 space of alluvial level bordered the channel, and was closely occupied by very noble mango 
 and tamarind trees interspersed with palms, and shading numerous cottages. They formed 
 a refreshing contrast to the aridity of the heights all round. 
 
 The town proclaims the nature of its staple to nose and eyes. You smell the coal-tarry 
 odour of petroleum everywhere; piles of earthen pots, used to hold it, line the beach, and 
 the outskirts of the town abound in potters' kilns. 
 
 In wandering over the heights that surround the town, all, as far as the eye could reach 
 on this side the river, seemed of similar barren character ; the soil, sandy and stony with 
 very scanty herbage, scarcely enough to redeem the surface from the title of absolute 
 desert, with occasional scraggy bushes or grim euphorbias. Trees with substantial foliage 
 were only seen in the bottoms, but even there no water was visible, or anything to indicate 
 the season of the monsoon. Fossil wood abounded everywhere, and round a ruined temple 
 on a hill-top were posts of that substance, as seen at Magwe. 
 
 15th August. — We started early to visit the earth-oil wells, or mines as they might be 
 called. A cafila of ponies was brought for our selection. The ponies were well enough, 
 but not so their equipment. The saddle is not a bad one ; somewhat of the English shape, 
 covered with cloth, and having a large hump on the pummel ; but the stirrups are very 
 small, being intended in fact to be gript with the big toe only of a naked foot, and are 
 merely tied to the two ends of a piece of rope which is twisted into the girth on the seat of 
 the saddle. 
 
 Our road wound about among the ravines and up the steep sides of the rotten sandstone 
 hills, till, about three miles from the town, we came upon the plateau on which the principal 
 wells are situated. It is an irregular table with a gently rising surface, forming a sort of 
 peninsula among the ravines. 
 
 The wells are frequent along its upper surface, and on the sides and spurs of the ravines 
 which bound it on the north and south-east. They are said to be about a hundred in 
 
20 JOURNAL OF THE MISSION 
 
 number, but of tbese some are exhausted or not worked. The depth of the wells appeared 
 to vary in tolerable proportion with the height of the well-mouth above the river level, but 
 an inspection of the lowest, situated near the bottoms of the ravines, enabled us to ascertain 
 that all were sunk a good deal below the level of the ravine bottoms which bounded the 
 plateau. Those that we measured (by pacing the length of the rope used) on the top of the 
 plateau were 180 feet, 190 feet, and 270 feet, in depth to the oil. One was said to be twenty 
 cubits deeper than this last, which would give a depth of about 306 feet.* 
 
 As far as we could judge, the area within which these wells stand, does not exceed half 
 a square mile. The wells are in some places pretty close together ; less, that is to say, 
 than a hundred feet apart. They are all exactly alike in appearance ; rectangular orifices 
 about four and a half feet by three and a half, and lined with horizontal timbers the 
 whole way clown. The oil appears to be found in a stratum of impure lignite, with 
 a good deal of sulphur. In one of the valleys we saw a stratum of this out-cropping, 
 with the oil oozing between the laminae. Doubtless, it was in this way originally 
 discovered; some Burman, with a large inductive faculty, having been led 'o sink a 
 shaft from above. 
 
 A rude windlass mounted on the trunk of a tree, laid across two forked stems, is all 
 the machinery used. An earthen pot is let down and filled, and then a man or woman 
 
 walks down the slope of the hill with 
 the rope. There is another group of oil- 
 wells in a valley about a mile to the 
 southward. 
 
 The petroleum from these pits is very 
 generally used as a lamp-oil all over 
 Burma. It is also used largely on the 
 woodwork and planking of houses, as a 
 preservative from insects, and for several 
 p- , 2 minor purposes, as a liniment, and even 
 
 as a medicine taken internally. The 
 Chinese Geography, translated in Thevenot's Voyages Curieux, says that it is a 
 sovereign remedy for the itch, which its sulphurous affinities render highly probable. 
 There is now a considerable export of the article from Rangoon to England, and one of 
 the Rangoon houses had a European agent residing on the spot. The demand in 
 England is, I believe, for use to some extent as a lubricating oil, but it is also employed 
 by Price's Company at Lambeth in the manufacture of patent candles, and has been 
 found to yield several valuable products. It has sold in the London market at from 
 401. to 451. a ton. 
 
 The oil itself looks like thin treacle of a greenish colour, and the smell is not unpleasant 
 in the open air, and in moderate strength. 
 
 * The cubit was sh own by one of the work-people as his natural cubit (elbow to finger-tips), plus a 
 hand-breadth ; which would be about twenty inches. 
 
o 
 
 z 
 
 D 
 
 o 
 > 
 
 O 
 
 z 
 
 < 
 
 2 
 
 u 
 > 
 
 UJ 
 
 
 rfj 
 

 .... •••• 
 
 •.. .•• 
 
 • • • • • • 
 
FKOM THE BRITISH FRONTIER TO PAGAN-JIYO. 21 
 
 The northern group of wells contains, as well as could be learned, about eighty wells 
 now yielding oil. The southern group contains about fifty, which yield an inferior kind of 
 oil mixed with water. At either place there are many exhausted wells. Each group 
 occupies a space of about half a square mile or somewhat less.* 
 
 There appears to be no record or tradition as to the original discovery of the petroleum, 
 or as to the lapse of time since it was first worked. The wells are private property, the 
 ground they occupy being owned by twenty-three families, inhabitants of Yenan-gyoung, and 
 the representatives, it is believed, of those who first discovered and worked the petroleum. 
 Among these is the hereditary Myo-thoo-gyeef of the place, who holds at present the office 
 of Myit-tsin-woon, or chief magistrate of the great river. They do not allow any stranger 
 to dig a well ; and although a respectable owner stated that they had no written grant or 
 confirmation of their exclusive privilege, yet it is upheld by the local Burmese authorities, 
 and apparently they have sufficient influence to prevent any wells being dug by interlopers 
 in the vicinity of their groups or clusters of wells. But independently of the influence they 
 thus exert to prevent any interference with their privileges and profits, the great expense 
 in the present dearth of capital, and the uncertainty of return, prevents any one trying 
 seriously to compete with them. The twenty-three proprietors constitute a kind of cor- 
 porate body, as regards their joint interests in the land, but possess individual property in 
 their own wells. When once a well has been dug, no one else is allowed to dig within 
 thirty cubits of it. No proprietor is allowed to sell or mortgage his well to any one not a 
 proprietor. They mortgage them among themselves. Formerly they intermarried among 
 themselves only ; but latterly, an old and respectable proprietor informed Major Phayre, 
 this custom had been broken through by the " young people." 
 
 The cost of digging a well 150 cubits deep was said to be 1500 or 2000 tikals,} some- 
 times even more ; and after all, the money might be thrown away, as a well dug within a 
 few yards of others yielding a good supply often proves a failure. The work of excavation 
 becomes dangerous as the oily stratum is approached, and frequently the diggers become 
 senseless from the exhalations. This also happens occasionally in wells that have been long 
 worked. " If a man is brought up to the surface with his tongue hanging out," said one of 
 our informants, " it is a hopeless case. If his tongue is not hanging out, he can be brought 
 round by hand-rubbing and kneading his body all over."§ 
 
 * Mr. Crawfurd speaks of the pits as being spread over a space of sixteen square miles, which I do 
 not understand. We could, by repeated inquiry, hear of no other groups of wells than the two mentioned 
 in the text. 
 
 t Thoo-gyee (" great man") is the head-man of a small circle of villages. Myo is properly a fortified 
 place, and hence a city or chief town of a district. The Myo-thoo-gyee is the Mayor or town magistrate, 
 and may be the deputy of the Myo-Woon, who is the governor or Lord Lieutenant of the district ; the 
 Myo-tsa is the " Eater," a prince, princess, or court official, to whom the revenues of the district have 
 been assigned as an appanage. Myo-ok is a subordinate town-magistrate, under the Myo-thoo-gyee. 
 
 \ The tikal averages in value somewhat more than one rupee and a quarter, or 2s. Qd. 
 
 § Captain Macleod, who saw the people engaged in sinking a well, which had reached a depth of 
 125 cubits, says that each successive workman remained below only from fourteen to twenty-eight 
 seconds, and appeared much exhausted on coming to the surface. (MS. Journal, 1838. In Foreign 
 Office, Calcutta.) 
 
22 JOURNAL OF THE MISSION 
 
 The yield of the wells varies greatly. Some afford no more than five or six viss,* 
 whilst others give 700, 1000, and even, it is said, 1500 daily. From all that we could 
 learn, the average yield of the wells in the northern group might be assumed to be about 
 220 viss, and that of those in the southern group to be 40 viss. Generally the supply 
 from a well deteriorates the longer it is worked. And if it be allowed to lie fallow for a 
 time, it is said that the yield is found to be diminished on the recommencement of work. 
 
 The oil is described by the people as gushing like a fountain from openings in the 
 earth. It accumulates in the well during the afternoon and night, and is drawn off in the 
 morning. The proprietors have the oil conveyed to the river side in carts loaded with 
 earthen pots containing ten viss each. Purchasers generally buy at the river side. 
 
 The ordinary price of the article used to be one tikal the hundred viss, or about sixteen 
 shillings a ton. Lately, in consequence of the demand from Rangoon, it has risen to about 
 thirty-five shillings a ton. 
 
 As to the amount of revenue derived by the king from the petroleum we found it 
 difficult to get definite information. One intelligent proprietor, who was myo-ok of the 
 town, stated, that out of 27,000 viss, which formed the whole monthly yield of his wells, 
 9000 went in payment to the work-people, 1000 to the king, and 1000 to the lord of the 
 district. 
 
 It is an object of some interest to endeavour to ascertain the approximate amount of 
 petroleum yielded by these wells. There was not time to make very minute inquiries on 
 this head, not to mention that questioning closely every proprietor might have given 
 umbrage to the Burmese officers, and excited their jealousy. From the information 
 derived, however, from the proprietors who came to the Envoy, and from general inquiries 
 by other members of the Mission, it appears that there are in the northern group of wells 
 about eighty yielding oil. This would give, at the daily average of 220 viss from each 
 well, an annual amount of 6,424,000 viss drawn from the northern group. 
 
 The fifty wells of the southern group are assumed to yield on the average forty viss 
 each daily. Their yield, therefore, annually would be 730,000 viss, making a total 
 quantity of 7,154,000 viss annually, equal to about 11,690 tons. This is very nearly 
 what the Myo-ok stated the produce to be, and it was, in all probability, about the truth. 
 The Myo-ok was a man of intelligence, had the means, from his official position, of knowing 
 the amount produced, and was candid and consistent in his statements, with no apparent 
 reserve whatsoever. 
 
 Mr. Crawfurd, in the Journal of his Embassy, deduced from the number of boats 
 employed in taking away the petroleum, that the quantity exported was 17,568,000 viss. 
 He estimates the number of wells at 200, and the average daily yield at 235 viss each. 
 Perhaps the wells give now a less return than formerly ; but certainly the produce cannot 
 now be anything like what Crawfurd estimated. To carry away from the wells seventeen 
 and a half millions of viss a-year, at the average ascertained cart-load of 120 viss, would 
 require about 400 carts a-day. As far as could be learned, the carts scarcely ever make 
 
 * The viss is equal to 3'C51C lbs. avoirdupois. 
 
FKOM THE BRITISH FRONTIER TO PAGAN-MYO. 23 
 
 more than one trip in the day from the village of Yenan-gyoung to the wells, and 160 
 to 170 appeared to he about the number employed.* 
 
 In the evening I walked with the Envoy to the northward of the town. We had a 
 delightful breeze along the arid heights. In fact, the climate is singularly fine for the 
 month of August in any tropical or Indian region. Except during the very midday power 
 of the sun, there has been no heat worth mentioning since our voyage commenced, and 
 lately the nights have been perfectly cool. 
 
 We walked on a gravelly path up and down the low hills to a snug little valley opening 
 only on the river, and containing a small village, with a monastery and its pagoda. The 
 schoolboys from the monastery getting about us, an old poongyi came out to the zayat f 
 as if desiring an interview. The monks never address any one first, but seem generally 
 glad to have a little conversation. Major Phayre remarks that they are the only class in 
 Pegu whom he can treat with familiarity, as they never can be claimants for office of 
 any kind. 
 
 The old poongyi J was invited to come and see the steamers. But he looked sus- 
 piciously at a " Penang lawyer" carried by one of the party, and suggested that he might 
 get beaten. 
 
 The people seem to connect the power of speaking Burmese with the practice of their 
 worship, and almost invariably ask the Envoy, " Do you worship the pagodas?" His 
 addressing this old poongyi by the term of respect applied to the priestly class attracted 
 the attention of a grinning black-toothed looker-on, who said, rather impertinently, 
 " What ! do you worship the poongyi ? Then, why didn't you make the proper obeisance 
 to him ?" " This is not a worship day," said the Envoy ; a reply which raised a loud laugh. 
 
 On our way back we spoke of the religion of the Burmese. They utterly, in theory 
 at least, deny an intelligent and Eternal Creator, and yet they distinctly recognise and 
 apprehend future punishment of sin, or rather of the violation of the Buddha's command- 
 ments. This punishment, they argue, is worked by the powers of nature in necessary 
 sequence of transgression, "just as you eat sour fruit and a bowel-complaint ensues," § 
 
 * Very various estimates have been formed of the productiveness of these wells. Captain Cox in 
 1796 calculated the annual product at 56,940,000 viss, but he was undoubtedly misled both as to the 
 number of wells in work and as to their average productiveness. Crawfurd's estimate is noticed in the 
 test. Captain Macleod in his MS. journal makes the quantity only 1,405,440 viss. He takes the 
 number of wells at 160, but assumes the average productiveness as only 36 viss, which is undoubtedly 
 far too low. Further remarks on the oil-wells will be found in Mr. Oldham's paper. 
 
 t A zayat is a public shed or portico for the accommodation of travellers, loungers, and worshippers, 
 found in every village, and attached to many pagodas. It corresponds, I apprehend, to the dharmsdla of 
 northern, and the choultri of southern India. 
 
 \ Poon-gyi, " Great glory," is a name by which the members of the monastic rule of Buddhism are 
 commonly known in Burma. 
 
 § " Mind precedes action. The motive is chief. If any one speak or act from a corrupt mind, suffering 
 will follow the action, as the wheel follows the lifted foot of the ox. 
 
 " Mind precedes action. The motive is chief ; actions proceed from mind. If any one speak or act 
 with a pure intention, enjoyment will follow the action, as the shadow attends the substance." (From 
 Damma Padan, or the Footsteps of Buddha, quoted in Hardy's Eastern Monachism, p. 28.) 
 
24 JOURNAL OF THE MISSION 
 
 without the interposition of any intelligent Ordainer or Judge. In old persons, the appre- 
 hension of punishment is often very lively. An elderly man, of great learning after the 
 Burmese manner, who used to converse much with Major Phayre, and to scoff at the idea 
 of an Eternal God as an absurdity, in coming to visit him at dinner-time declined to eat 
 meat. " Why," said Major Phayre, " you used to eat ducks and fowls readily enough." 
 " Yes,'' he answered, " but I am growing old now, and I fear hell."* 
 
 Another anecdote the Envoy related, of a man who had been giving evidence 
 before a court at Maulmain, and in returning home across the Salween was dragged 
 out of his canoe by one of the alligators which swarm in that river, f The people 
 asserted at once that he had perjured himself, and that this was Nature's punishment 
 of the act. 
 
 In the evening we had to visit the play, which had been going on with little intermission 
 since our arrival. The theatre on this occasion was entirely covered in, which made the 
 heat and petroleum smoke very oppressive. The scene commenced (as it often does) with 
 a chorus of Woongyis chaunting the duties of ministers of state, and dancing round the 
 while in a manner worthy of Sir Christopher Hatton, but "high and disposedly" like Sir 
 Christopher's mistress. 
 
 They wore long surcoats of white muslin over their dresses (the usual half-dress of 
 gentlemen at the court), and very prim and meagre Burmese turbans ; quaint and comic 
 their effect was altogether, though by no means so intended. Four ladies followed who 
 figured both as dancers and singers. The narrow trailing Burmese dress necessarily 
 confines the poetry of motion to artful swayings of the body ; or to a sort of pirouetting or 
 winding on both feet, followed by unwinding again, with much quaint angular action of 
 the arms and head. These damsels, as they danced, were attended by a clown, whose 
 chief jocularity consisted in imitating and ridiculing the action of the principal dancer, and 
 in suddenly putting himself in her way when she rapidly unwound again from one of her 
 
 * Yet Gautama did not forbid flesh, and himself died of eating the hospitable pork of Chundo the 
 goldsmith. " Those who take life are in fault, but not the persons who eat the flesh ; my priests have 
 permission to eat whatever food it is customary to eat in any place or country." — Hardy's Man. of Bud. 
 p. 327. 
 
 f In the " Book of the Oath," which a Burmese witness places on his head in swearing, one of the 
 numerous and tremendous imprecations on the perjurer which it contains is, " All such as do not speak 
 truth ... if they travel by water, whether in ships or in boats, may they sink, or may they be bitten 
 and devoured by crocodiles." (Sangermano's Burmese Empire, p. 69.) 
 
 Of the alligators in the Tenasserim rivers, Mr. Mason says: "They often carry off the natives; and 
 a single animal, emboldened by his successes, will usurp dominion over a particular portion of a river, 
 where he becomes the terror of every boat's crew that passes. The steersman occupies the most dan- 
 gerous position ; for the crocodile's mode of attack is to glide up silently to the bow or stern of a boat, 
 then turn suddenly, when with one stroke of his powerful tail close to the top of the boat, he sweeps 
 into the water whoever is within its reach, and the stunned victim becomes an easy prey. {Natural 
 Productions of Burma, p. 336.) 
 
 "Another friend of mine," writes Major Phayre, "was carried off by an alligator from his boat in the 
 Salween, and, strange to say, about a week before he had shown me tied up in his goung-boung (turban 
 or fillet) some nodules of iron pyrites as a charm against alligators !" 
 
FROM THE BRITISH FRONTIER TO PAGAN-MYO. 25 
 
 pirouettes. On such occasions she usually gave him a ladylike slap on the face with 
 her fan.* 
 
 The whole of the way from the vessels to the theatre, with the surrounding dry channel 
 of the river, was profusely illuminated hy Mazing ci'essets of earth-oil. 
 
 Having heard that it was often the practice to load the oil in bulk, I went in the evening 
 to see some boats that were taking in cargo. One large boat of the kind described above 
 under the name of Pem-go, I found actually so loaded. The boat was left empty amidships, 
 to facilitate the baling of the water, which, as heavier than the oil, collected in this, the 
 lowest part of the hull. Forward and aft of this, partitions formed two large cisterns, in 
 which the oil was deposited. This boat carried, we were told, 10,000 viss of oil, or about 
 fifteen tons ; a great deal more, the master said, than he could have stowed in earthen pots. 
 The crew consisted of eight men, paid at the rate of six tikals per month. The hire of 
 such a boat to Rangoon would be 100 tikals. 
 
 17 th August — The river has risen three and a half feet during our stay at the oil-wells, 
 and is still rising. 
 
 We started at seven, and, as before, continued to hug the eastern shore, which at first 
 was still of much the same character, presenting bold sandstone cliffs cut up by ravines, 
 occasionally a stream, with a snug village at its mouth, and farther inland a rolling table 
 country, with here and there a prominent point, spotted with trees and bushes, which are 
 thicker and greener in the hollows. 
 
 About nine, we halted for an hour to visit some ancient-looking ruined temples near 
 the village of Tantabeng, and I landed in company with Mr. Oldham and the two artists. 
 An account of these ruins will be given in connexion with the Pagan remains. 
 
 Through an accident to a boiler we made little way, and at last anchored under a low 
 island on the west side, a little below Sem-phyo-gyoon, and just opposite Kyoonyo on the 
 same side, a considerable village with numerous monasteries, &c. Pakhan-g'e" was visible 
 a few miles up on the other bank. 
 
 18 th August. — In the morning we moved up opposite Sem-phyo-gyoon, where, on an 
 alluvial island, a theatre had been erected, and a large assemblage gathered to meet us. 
 
 The lofty isolated hill of Paopa was distinctly visible far to the eastward, showing here 
 a double hummock top. It must be 3000 feet high at least, allowing for the probable 
 distance. 
 
 In the afternoon the repairs were completed, and we sailed a few miles up to Silleh-myo. 
 The river is here very wide and full of islands, so that it was difficult to find the best 
 channel. We had for some time only one fathom, and for a few minutes, in one place, our 
 flat got aground. The river seems notwithstanding to be still rising, and brings down 
 numerous trunks of trees, &c. 
 
 * So Raffles says of similar Javanese performances. " It is not unusual for the performances of the 
 rong-gengs [dancing-girls] to be varied by the action of a fool or buffoon. Mimicry is a favourite amuse- 
 ment, and besides imitating in a ludicrous manner the action of the rong-gengs, there are not wanting 
 performers of this description, who occasionally direct their wit against all classes of society, and evince 
 a considerable degree of low humour." (ii, 344.) 
 
2G JOURNAL OF THE MISSION 
 
 Below Pakhan-gle, a large and thriving-looking place, the aspect of the eastern shore 
 had changed. We had lost the Muffs of sandstone, and had a stretch of more gently 
 swelling country with somewhat more of wood, and fallow fields enclosed in dry thorn- 
 hedges. Above Pakhan-gle the character of the river was more Gangetic ; the banks of 
 clay without visible rock; the churs* and islands abounding in madar and acacia. 
 
 At Silleh-myo we had to land in the dark to see the play ; the second with which we 
 had been favoured to-day. The place belongs to the Ein-she-men,f or heir-apparent, and 
 the Envoy was particularly desirous to give no ground for offence. 
 
 Of the play the less said the better ; it was the first indecent exhibition that had been 
 thrust on us. The Governor had no upper clothing on, and was boorish in looks and 
 manners. 
 
 19th August. — Probably some one of the deputation had admonished the Governor, for 
 he came to the Envoy in the morning well dressed and improved in behaviour, bringing 
 his wife, a pleasing well-mannered woman, with her children. 
 
 The main part of the town has lately been enclosed in a bamboo fence. Behind it are 
 numerous religious buildings of different classes. One pagoda, with an octagonal base, had 
 inscribed over the arched doorways the names of the days of the week, or rather of the 
 planets, the eighth being Rahii, the Asiir or Titan whose assault on the moon causes eclipse, 
 or the invisible planet, as he is sometimes represented to be ; the personified node, in fact. 
 These names were arranged in a peculiar order, according to that in which the planets are 
 said to be ranged round the cosmical mountain Myen-mo (Meru of the Hindoos). 
 
 Under a long shed were several curious groups of figures. One seemed to represent 
 Gautama ill ; the other represented him dead, surrounded by nine wailing disciples. These 
 were all gilt except one — Ananda, his favourite disciple, as we were told — because he 
 alone of the disciples was not in the priestly order at the master's death, f Other loose 
 figures were grouped together on the floor with a bamboo frame on their shoulders, pro- 
 bably intended when complete to represent Gautama on his bier. 
 
 Some brick temples, of ancient appearance, had been originally painted with patterns in 
 the interior. White-wash had been applied over the painting, and on this white-wash in 
 one place was an inscription, in charcoal, dated 287 years ago. Even this at first sight 
 seemed a great age for buildings of indifferent brick. But the climate is evidently a very 
 dry one and favourable to their preservation. An adjoining pagoda, stated to have been 
 built five years ago, looked quite fresh and white. In Bengal or Pegu it would have been 
 stained all over and injured by damp. Two or three miles below the town was a large 
 
 * The shifting alluvial deposits of a great river are so called in Bengal. 
 
 t Ein-she-men, Lord of the eastern house, is the peculiar appellation of the declared heir to the 
 Burmese throne. The King's brother, who holds this position, was believed to be unfavourably disposed 
 to the English. 
 
 J This is, I find, not quite correct. Ananda, the cousin and favourite disciple of Gautama, was a 
 thero (Presbyter) or bhikshu (mendicant), but did not attain the sanctity of the Rahat-hood, or qualifica- 
 tion for final emancipation without further birth, till the Synod held atRajagriha in Magadha soon after 
 the death of the Buddha. (See Tumour's Exam, of the Buddhistical Annals; Journal of the As i at. 
 Soc. Bengal, Vol. vi. pp. 516-18.) 
 
FROM THE BRITISH FliONTIEU TO I'AGAN-JIYO. 27 
 
 collection of ruined temples similar to those at Tantabeng. They bear the name of Shen- 
 byeng-sa-gyo ("where the king's bones were met") from a tradition that the body of a 
 king, who had died at a distance from the capital, was met here by the courtiers from 
 Pagan and received the funeral rites. 
 
 Silleh used to be celebrated for its silk-weaving, but we observed no symptom of this 
 trade now existing. There were many shops for lacquered ware, and some specimens were 
 of a superior kind. 
 
 Dr. Forsyth mentioned boiled frogs among other articles of food that he had seen in the 
 bazar. 
 
 We left Silleh about nine o'clock and went up to Seeng-goo, which we reached before 
 one o'clock. In the present strength of stream, the war-boats which attend us find it 
 difficult to keep up for longer distances. We passed on the left Zaik-phyo (" White stairs"), 
 where a large gilt pagoda rose amid an extensive grove of palms. Behind, numerous small 
 temples dotted the spurs of a low and barren range of hills, which here interrupted the 
 alluvial plain that commenced at Memboo. 
 
 One of the tributary channels enters the Irawadi just below Seeng-goo. These chan- 
 nels are curious, being so very wide as apparently to require a very sudden discharge to 
 fill them, whilst there is no hilly source, the general cause of that condition, visible. 
 
 Beyond this channel, in the clayey strata of the ravines, Mr. Oldham found numerous 
 fossil shells, sharks' teeth, crabs' claws, &c. Fossil wood is still excessively abundant, both 
 on the surface loose, and in chips or masses embedded in the hard breccia which occurs 
 along the banks of both the Irawadi and the tributary channel. 
 
 20th August. — The country behind Seeng-goo is formed in long gentle slopes or rolls, 
 and a great deal of it is fenced, as if in habitual cultivation. The deficiency of rain, which 
 has now continued for six or seven years, appears to have thrown this out of tillage. With 
 verdure and crops filling in these hedge-rows this country would be beautiful, but now it 
 was very barren. The bottoms below us all bore old marks of the plough, and of having 
 been dammed across as rice- grounds, but there was no sign of recent culture. 
 
 Some fifteen miles northward, and a few miles distant from the river, ran a considerable 
 but isolated range of serrated hills, rising probably to a height of 700 and 1000 feet, and 
 a few of them crowned with white pagodas. This range, called the Tharawadi Hills, lies 
 immediately eastward of Pagan. Across the river, and stretching far upwards, the same 
 hilly range seems to reappear, with the cant of the strata there facing the Irawadi, and 
 giving the hills an aspect of excessive barrenness. Farther down on the same side the 
 golden spire of Zeikphyo looked indescribably rich before the morning sun, gleaming from 
 among the palm-trees. 
 
 The remarkable Paopa-doung is a more and more conspicuous object as we advance. 
 The Burmese naturally look with some superstitious dread on this isolated mountain, which 
 they say it is impossible to ascend, and regard as the dwelling of myriads of Nats and 
 Biliis.* 
 
 * Bilus, defined by Judson as monsters which eat human nesh and possess certain superhuman powers, 
 are generally depicted as dark-coloured and tusked Calibans. They represent in the Buddhist myths the 
 
I 
 
 28 JOUUNAL OF THE MISSION 
 
 In advancing to Pagtin, the river was excessively wide, extending sometimes to a 
 breadth of four miles, with many islands. The east bank is very beautiful, never rising 
 more than forty feet, but constantly dipping into hollows brimful of noble trees, and 
 nestling villages with groups of palms. Some of the cotton-trees and ficuses were of 
 incomparable beauty and magnitude. The other shore consists, all along, of the barren 
 hills mentioned above, but the isles at their base are green and woody. 
 
 At last the pagodas of Pagan began to appear in the distance. One great bell-shaped 
 mass, witli the upper spire ruined or wanting, and in bulk approaching, as it seemed to us, 
 the Shwe Dagon,* led the way; Tsetna-phya by name. Others followed fast, of all quaint 
 shapes, the dark ancient temple with its square base and quadrangular mitre-like spire ; 
 the many-storied pyramid, borrowed from the structure of the timber idol houses, and other 
 novel forms white and black, mingled with fine forest trees or humbler jungle. Then 
 villages are interspersed ; the Owhyhec scene recommences; war-boats, golden umbrellas, 
 shouting oarsmen, dancing demons gesticulating wildly on the narrow canoes, and deafening 
 music, bring onboard the Governor of Pagan and Myit-sing-woon, "a kind of high sheriff 
 of the Irawadi."t Temples become more and more frequent, old trees vaster and more 
 numerous, cottages and population more abundant, till we moor at the modern town of 
 Pagan, close to a theatre as usual. . , 
 
 The retinue of the Myit-sing-woon was the largest and best we had yet met with. 
 In his own boat were fifty men armed with dims, or swords, and twenty of them with 
 fowling-pieces, rifles, &c. of all sizes and bores, but all of them double-barrelled. Many 
 of the boats had arm-racks running along the centre line. In some the crew were 
 dressed uniformly. There were in all about twenty boats with average crews of thirty 
 men each. 
 
 As we drew near the town a body of two hundred horsemen were seen drawn up 
 on the shore. They were mounted on the small country ponies, and many of these were 
 followed by their young foals. 
 
 Rd&thcua* of the Hindoos. According to a Buddhist legend (Mason's Nat. Prod, of Burma, ii. 427) Gau- 
 tama, when he attempted to land at Martaban, was stoned by the Nats and Biltis, who then inhabited that 
 country, as well as Tavoy and Mergui. May there not be here some dim tradition of an alien and savage 
 race of aborigines, akin perhaps to the quasi-negroes of the Andamans, who have become the Bilus, or 
 Ogres, of Burman legend, just as our Ogres took their name probably from the Ugrians of north-eastern 
 Europe. Considering that these negroes, or the somewhat similar Papuan races, are found (like the links 
 of a broken chain) in the Andamans, in the spinal mountains of the Malacca Peninsula, in the Philippine 
 Islands, in Sumatra, Borneo and New Guinea, &c, it seems not improbable that kindred tribes may have 
 been spread over the Indo-Chinese coasts at a remote period. The description of the Andaman negroes 
 by the Mohammedan travellers of the ninth century, as quoted by Prichard, would answer very well for a 
 Burman Bilu : " The people eat human flesh quite raw ; their complexion is black, their hair frizzled, 
 their countenance and eyes frightful ; their feet are very large and almost a cubit in length, and they go 
 quite naked." 
 
 Something of the comic, however, seems to attach to the Bilu (as in mediaeval stories to the Devil), 
 if one may judge from the way in which he is commonly represented, as engaged in some humorous 
 mischief. 
 
 * The great temple of Rangoon. f Mr. Oldham's journal. 
 
FKOM THE BlilTISH FKONTIBR TO TAGAN-MYO. 
 
 29 
 
 Soon after our arrival a new kind of spectacle took place at the theatre. Some two- 
 and-forty damsels from the adjoining 
 villages (not professional performers) 
 came down in procession and went 
 through a sort of choral song before 
 us, reciting, as we were told, the 
 praises and glories of their king. 
 As long as they chanted together, 
 there was something new and pleasing 
 in the effect, but after a while the 
 voices dropt off one by one, whilst 
 one and then another took up a mono- 
 tonous strain in solo or duet. Then 
 the thing fell back into the old intoler- 
 able tedium. 
 
 The place where we were an- 
 chored was singularly picturesque. 
 Close below us a temple rose from 
 the river bank, small, but of most 
 original shape, like a great pumpkin, 
 with the thick end uppermost, and 
 a simple spire rising from the top. 
 
 This stands on a terrace of white 
 chunam, encompassed down to the 
 water with a succession of concentric 
 sloping walls, and parapets crowned 
 with trefoils. Behind was a small 
 carved and gilded wooden image- 
 shrine, and then a brick thein with 
 a pyramidal many-storied spire; the 
 latter new, and executed with accu- 
 racy and richness of ornament, unusual 
 
 in modern Burmese brick-work. The whole, as seen from the river, might pass for a 
 scene in another planet, so fantastic and unearthly was the architecture. 
 
 Fig. 13. The Pumpkin Pagoda. 
 
CHAPTER II. 
 
 THE REMAINS AT TAG AX. 
 
 Ancient History of Burma — Tagoung and Prome, the Seats of Empire — Foundation of Pagan — Two 
 Cities so called — Upper Pagan — Lower Pagan — Its Capture by the Chinese — Former Notices of 
 the Pagdn Remains — Various types of Pagodas — Ruins at Tantabeng, and usual type at Pagan — The 
 Ananda — Traditional History — Etymology of Name — Monasteries adjoining the Temple — Mural 
 Paintings — Why Burmese use a round Character — Complexion of the Burmans — Description of the 
 Ananda — Images of the Four Buddhas, and effective mode of Lighting — Impressive Character of 
 Building — Material of the Pagan Temples — Barbarous Inferiority of Repairs — The Thapinyu Temple 
 — Gaudapalen — Bavddhi — Architectural Elements of the Temples — Notion of a European hand in 
 the Design — Mouldings, &c. — Analogies illustrating true Origin of the Architecture — Temple of 
 Dhamoyangyee — Flat Brick Arch — The Sudha Munee — Enamelled Tiles — The Shwe Koo — Trian- 
 gular Arch— Hindoo Sculptures — Incrustation of Pagodas — Colossal Image — Cromlech — Drawings 
 from Measurements of Temples — Burmese Wall Scribblings — Memorandum on Hindoo Images in a 
 Temple at Pagdn. 
 
 The Burmese monarchs derive their stem from the Sakya kings of Kapilavastu, the sacred 
 race from which Gautama sprang. One of them, Abhi-Raja by name, is said to have 
 migrated with his troops and followers into the valley of the Irawadi, and there to 
 have established his sovereignty at the city of Tagoung : a legend manifestly of equal 
 value and like invention to that which deduced the Romans from the migration of the 
 pious ..Eneas, the ancient Britons from Brut the Trojan, and the Gael from Scota 
 daughter of Pharaoh.* 
 
 But that Tagoung was the early capital of the Burmans appears to be admitted ; and 
 it is probable, supposing the valley of the Irawadi to have been settled from the north. 
 There, they relate (as is told also of Anuradhapoora in Ceylon), a city, or a succession of 
 cities, had existed even during the times of each of the three Buddhas who preceded 
 Gautama. The last foundation of Tagoung took place, according to story, in the days of 
 Gautama himself, and this city was the seat of seventeen successive kings.f 
 
 From Tagoung, a wild legend carries the dynasty to Prome, where an empire under 
 the Pali name of Sare Khettara {Sri Kshetra) was established about 484 b.c. It does not 
 
 * I see, however, since the test was written, that Lassen accepts the traditions of the Indian origin 
 of the Burmese kings as genuine. {Indische Alterthumskunde, ii. 1034.) 
 f Col. Burney, in Jour. As. Soc. Ben. vol. v. p. 157. 
 
THE REMAINS AT PAGAN. 31 
 
 appear from the authorities whether the kingdom of Tagoung is believed to have continued 
 contemporaneously with that of Prome. 
 
 There is no doubt that the frequent shifting of their capitals is characteristic of the 
 Indo-Chinese nations, and is connected with the facilities for migration presented by their 
 great navigable rivers, and by the unsubstantial nature of their dwellings. Still, one 
 cannot but have some suspicion that the desire to carry back to a remoter epoch the 
 existence of the empire as a great monarchy, has led to the representation of what was 
 really the history of various petty principalities, attaining probably an alternate prepon- 
 derance of dominion, as the history of one dynasty of monarchs in various successive 
 seats. 
 
 Pegu, it need not be said, was an independent kingdom, though several times sub- 
 jected for a longer or shorter period by the Burmans, previous to the last conquest by 
 Alompra, and twice at least in its turn subjecting Ava.* Toungoo also appears 
 undoubtedly to have been a separate kingdom for a considerable period ; two of its kings, 
 or princes, in succession having conquered Pegu during the sixteenth century; and 
 Martaban was the seat of an independent prince for at least 140 years. Tavoy was 
 occasionally independent, though at other times subject alternately to Pegu and to Siam. 
 Aracan, bearing much the same relation to Burma that Norway did to Sweden, preserved 
 its independence till the end of the last century. But besides these, there are perhaps 
 indications of other principalities within the boundaries of Burma proper. Kings of 
 Prome are mentioned in the histories of the Portuguese adventurers. Ferdinand Mendez 
 Pinto speaks of several other kingdoms on the Irawadi ; but he is, to be sure, a very bad 
 authority. Father Sangermano also, in his abstract of the Burmese chronicles, appears to 
 speak of contemporary kings of Myen-zain or Panya, Ta-goung and Sagain.f 
 
 Some of these instances may, however, originate only in the ambiguity of the Burmese 
 title Men, which is applied equally to the King of England and to the Governor-General of 
 India, to the King of Burma and to all the high dignitaries and princes of his provinces. 
 
 The empire of Prome came to an end, it is said, through civil strife ; f and one of the 
 
 * In the thirteenth century three generations of Burman kings reigned over Pegu. In 1554 or 
 thereabouts, the King of Pegu, who was a Burmese prince of Toungoo, conquered Ava and its empire as 
 far as Mogoung and the Shan state of Thein-nee. This was the acme of Peguan prosperity, but even that 
 was under a Burmese sovereign. About 1613 the King of Ava became master of Pegu, and all the lower 
 provinces. So matters continued till the Peguan revolt of 1740 and the following years, which succeeded 
 not only in the expulsion of the Burmans ; but (1752) in the conquest of Ava. This brief ascendancy 
 was upset in the same year by the Hunter-Captain Alompra, whose dynasty still sits on the throne of 
 Ava, though Pegu has past into the hands of the Kalds. 
 
 f Description of the Burmese Empire, pp. 42, 43. 
 
 X The following quaint legend is related by Sangermano. On the day of the last King's death, it 
 happened that a countryman's cornsieve, or winnowing fan, was carried away by an impetuous wind. The 
 countryman gave chase, crying out : "Oh, my cornsieve ! oh, my cornsieve !" The citizens disturbed by 
 the clamour, and not knowing what had happened, began likewise to cry, "Army of the Cornsieve ! 
 Soldiers of the Cornsieve !" A great confusion consequently arose, and the citizens divided themselves 
 into three factions, which took up arms against one another, and were afterwards formed into three 
 nations, the Pyu, the Karan, and the Burmese. (The Pyu were probably the people in the neighbour- 
 hood of Prome ; Karan, or Kanran the Aracanese. See Phayre in J. A. S. B. xiii. 29.) 
 
32 THE REMAINS AT TAG AN. 
 
 princes, in a.d. 107, flying to the north, established himself at Pagan, where, according to 
 the view taken by Crawfurd and Burney, as well as Sangermano, the Burmese monarchy 
 continued under a succession of fifty-two or fifty-five princes, to the end of the thirteenth 
 century. 
 
 But the authority quoted by Mr. Mason* (apparently an edition of the royal chronicle) 
 implies that the city founded, or re-founded in 107, was that of Upper Pagan, on the upper 
 Trawadi, closely adjoining Tagoung ; and that the Pagan of which we now speak was not 
 founded till 847 or 849. 
 
 The site of Upper Pagan has been visited by Captain Hannay in 1835, and by the Rev. 
 Mr. Kincaid in 1837. 
 
 Captain Hannay says,f "About a mile to the south of this (Tagoung) is a place called 
 Pagam myo, which is now a complete jungle, but covered with the remains of brick 
 buildings as far as the eye can reach. There are also the ruins of several large temples, 
 which have now more the appearance of earthen mounds than the remains of brick 
 buildings, and they are covered with jungle to the top." The people on the spot told 
 Captain Hannay that the city was much more ancient than the other Pagan. And, indeed, 
 we heard this upper city spoken of as " old Pagan" when we were at the capital. 
 
 Some interesting discoveries in Burmese history and antiquities may yet be made 
 among the ruins of which Captain Hannay speaks. 
 
 Nine of the oldest temples at Pagan are ascribed, according to Crawfurd, to King 
 Pyan-bya, , circa 850. This coincides with the reign and date to which Mr. Mason's 
 account assigns the foundation of the city. 
 
 Here, then, twenty-one kings reigned in regular succession from the middle of the 
 ninth to the end of the thirteenth century ; and here, in the year 997, under the apostleship 
 of A-rahanJ and the reign of Anau-ra-men-zan, Buddhism was established in its present 
 shape as the religion of the country.§ 
 
 The history of the destruction of Pagan has been related by Colonel Burney from the 
 Burmese chronicles. || Indignant at the murder of an ambassador by the Burmese king, 
 the Emperor of China sent a vast army to invade Burma. The king, Naratheeha-pade, 
 in his anxiety to strengthen the defences of his capital, pulled down for the sake of the 
 materials (so the chronicle relates), 1000 large arched temples, 1000 smaller ones, and 
 4000 square temples. But under one of these temples a prophetic inscription of ominous 
 import was found ; the king lost heart, left his new walls defenceless, and fled to Bassein. 
 The Chinese advanced, occupied the city, and continued to pursue the Burman army as far 
 as Taroup-mau, or Chinese point, a considerable distance below Prome. This was in 1284. 
 
 Colonel Burney has indicated that this is the same Chinese invasion which is spoken of 
 by Marco Polo. Turning to that traveller (in Purchas, Vol. iii. p. 93), we find that when 
 
 * Natural Productions of Burma, ii. 450. 
 
 t MS. Narrative of a Journey from Ava to the Amber Mines near the Assam Frontier. (In Foreign 
 Office, Calcutta.) 
 
 % Judson gives this as a name ; but is it not merely the Italian, or perfected Buddhist saint ? 
 § Judson's Life, i. 199, and Crawfurd, p. 491. 
 II J. A. S. B. vol. iv. p. 402. 
 
THE KEMAINS AT TAGAN. 33 
 
 the Great Khan minded to subdue the city of Mien (the Chinese name for Burma), he 
 sent a valiant captain, and an army chiefly composed of jesters, with whom his court was 
 always furnished. 
 
 It is curious enough to contrast the contemptuous view of the Burmese enterprise here 
 indicated, with the history of the same event as given by the Burmans in their chronicle. 
 Instead of an army of jesters, they represent the Emperor to have sent a host of at least 
 6,000,000 of horse, and 20,000,000 of foot, to attack Pagan, and to have been obliged to 
 reinforce these repeatedly before they could overcome the resolute resistance of the Bur- 
 mese, who encountered the enemy near the mouth of the Bamo river. 
 
 From the mention of this locality, it would appear that the Chinese invasion took place 
 by the route still followed by the main body of the Chinese trade with Burma. 
 
 Pagan surprised us all. None of the preceding travellers to Ava had prepared us for 
 remains of such importance and interest. I do not find any mention of Pagan and its 
 temples before the middle of the last century, when Captain George Baker and Lieutenant 
 North were sent on a joint embassy to Alompra from the British settlement at Negrais. 
 Lieutenant North died at Pagan, or rather at Nyoung-oo, a considerable trading town at 
 the northern extremity of the ruins. On his way down, Captain Baker seems to have 
 stayed a week at " Pagang Youngoe." lie mentions the great number of pagodas in the 
 neighbourhood, and one in particular, " the biggest of any between Dagon [Rangoon] and 
 Momchabue [Moutshobo, the residence of Alompra], kept in good repair, and celebrated 
 by the people for having one of their god's teeth and a collar-bone buried under it."* 
 
 Colonel Symes visited some of the temples on his way both up and down the river, and 
 gives a somewhat vague account of the Ananda, which was then undergoing repair at the 
 expense of the Prince Royal. He was told that the prince had collected gold for the 
 purpose of gilding it, an intention which the size of the building renders improbable, and 
 which certainly was not fulfilled. 
 
 Cox also describes the Ananda, and he took some measurements with the intention of 
 making a plan of the building. 
 
 Among the ruins .of the ancient city, on the 8th February, 1826, the Burmese under the 
 hapless Naweng-bhuyen, or "King of Sunset,"f made their last stand against Sir Archibald 
 Campbell's army, which remained encamped there for some days afterwards. Havelock, 
 in his history of the Campaign, notices the numerous monuments, but says: " The sensation 
 of barren wonderment is the only one which Pagahm excites. There is little to admire, 
 nothing to venerate, nothing to exalt the notion of the taste and invention of the people 
 which the traveller might already have formed in Rangoon or Prome." It will be seen 
 presently that we differ widely in opinion from Colonel Havelock. 
 
 * Dalrymple's Oriental Repertory, i. 171. This was the Shwe Zeegong, described in the account of 
 our return. 
 
 t Otherwise Jaya Sura (Sanskrit), ' Hero of Victory? He fled to Ava, and appeared before the King 
 demanding new troops. The King in aJ rage ordered him to be put to death. The poor fellow was 
 tortured out of life before he reached the place of execution. — Judson's Life, i. 295. 
 
 F 
 
34 THE KEMAINS AT PAGAN. 
 
 The account that conveys the most truthful impression of Pagan is probably that 
 contained in the travels of Mr. Howard Malcom, an American missionary traveller. 
 
 Mr. Crawfurd, indeed, devotes several pages of his admirable book to the detailed 
 description of some of these buildings, and gives an engraving of that which he considered 
 the finest architectural work among them. From his selection in this instance I utterly 
 dissent. The temple is altogether uncharacteristic of the peculiar Pagan architecture ; nor 
 is it indeed well or accurately represented in the print. Mr. Crawfurd's descriptions too, 
 accurate observer as he is, fail somehow to leave with his readers any just impression of 
 these great and singular relics. 
 
 In Pegu and lower Burma, the Buddhist pagoda is seldom found in any other form 
 than that of the solid bell-shaped structure, representing (though with a difference) the 
 Topes of ancient India and the Chaityas of Tibet, and always supposed to cover a sacred 
 relic. Images of Gautama are often attached to these, bat do not seem to be essential to 
 them. The great pagodas of Rangoon, Prome, and Pegu, are celebrated examples of this 
 kind of edifice. 
 
 The type of the principal temples at Pagan is very different, and they suit better our 
 idea of what the word temple implies. Remains of this description, but on a small scale, 
 first attracted our attention at Tantabeng, a place on the east bank of the Irawadi some 
 miles above Yenangyoung.* 
 
 The buildings at Tantabeng were numerous, had an air of great antiquity, and were, as 
 far as we examined them, on one general plan. The body of the buildings was cubical in 
 form, inclosing a Gothic-vaulted chamber. The entrance was by a projecting porch to the 
 east, and this porch had also a subsidiary door on its north and south sides. There were 
 also slightly projecting door-places on the three other sides of the main building, sometimes 
 blank, and sometimes real entrances. The plan of the building, it will be seen, was cruci- 
 form. Several terraces rose successively above the body of the temple, and from the highest 
 terrace rose a spire bearing a strong general resemblance to that of the common 
 temples of Eastern India, being, like the latter, a tall pyramid with bulging sides. 
 The angles of this spire were marked as quoins, with deep joints, and a little 
 apex at the projecting angle of each, which gave a peculiar serrated appearance 
 to the outline when seen against the sky. These buildings were entirely of 
 brick; the ornamental mouldings still partially remained in plaster. The 
 
 interior of each temple contained an image of Gautama, or its remains. The 
 Fig. 14. 1 ... 
 
 walls and vaults were plastered, and had been highly decorated with minute 
 
 fresco-paintings. 
 
 Such is the substantial type of all the most important temples at Pagan, though when 
 
 the area of the ground-plan expands from 30 or 40 feet square to 200 or 300 feet square, 
 
 the proportions and details of the parts necessarily vary considerably. 
 
 * Mr. Oldham says, that he saw a chambered pagoda as low clown as Akouktoung (below Prome). 
 There is a conspicuous one also at Thayet Myo. But they are comparatively rare anywhere below the 
 point named, and never, I think, of the antique type here described. 
 
 s 
 
THE UEIIAINS AT PAGAN. 
 
 35 
 
 The Pagan ruins extend over a space about eight miles in length along the river, and 
 probably averaging two miles in breadth. The present town of Pagan stands on the river 
 side within the decayed ramparts of the ancient city, near the middle length of this space. 
 
 This brick rampart, and fragments of an ancient gateway, showing almost obliterated 
 traces of a highly architectural character, are the only remains at Pagan which are not of 
 a religious description. If any tradition lingers round the site of the ancient palaces of 
 the kings who reigned here for so many centuries, our party missed it 
 
 Of the number of the temples at Pagan I feel scarcely able to form any estimate, the 
 few days which we spent there having been chiefly devoted to a detailed examination of 
 some of the most important. But of all sizes I should not guess them at less than eight 
 hundred, or perhaps a thousand. 
 
 Fig. 15. 
 
 Fig. 17. 
 
 Fig. lfi. 
 
 All kinds and forms are to be found among them ; the bell-shaped pyramid of dead 
 brick-work in all its varieties (Fig. 15); the same, raised over a square or octagonal cell 
 containing an image of the Buddha (Fig. 16); the bluff knob-like dome of the Ceylon 
 Dagobas,* with the square cap which seems to have characterised the most ancient 
 Buddhist Chaityas, as represented in the sculptures at Sanchi, and in the ancient model 
 pagodas found near Buddhist remains in India (Fig. 17); the fantastic Bo-phya, or 
 Pumpkin Pagoda, which seemed rather like a fragment of what we might conceive the 
 architecture of the moon than anything terrestrial (Fig. 13); and many variations on these 
 types. But the predominant and characteristic form is that of the cruciform vaulted temple, 
 which we have described above. 
 
 Three at least of the great temples, and a few of the smaller ones of this kind, have been 
 
 * Dagoba (cow. of Sanscrit words signifying Relic-receptacle) is generally supposed to be the original 
 of the word Pagoda. De la Loubere in his account of Siam, however, says that the latter is a corruption 
 of a Persian word signifying an idol-temple, — bvt-khana, I suppose. 
 
36 THE REMAINS AT PAGAN. 
 
 from time to time repaired, and are still more or less frequented by worshippers. But by- 
 far the greater number have been abandoned to the owls and bats, and some have been 
 desecrated into cow-houses by the villagers. 
 
 In some respects the most remarkable of the great temples, and that which is still the 
 most frequented as a place of worship, is the Ananda. 
 
 " This temple is said to have been built in the reign of Kyan-yeet-tha, about the time of 
 the Norman conquest of England. Tradition has it that five Rahandahs, or saints of an 
 order second only to a Buddha, arrived at Pagan from the Hema-woonda, or Himalayan 
 region. They stated that they lived in caves on the Nanda-moola hill (probably the Nunda 
 Devi Peak), and the King requested them to give him a model of their abode, from which 
 he might construct a temple. The Rahandahs did as they were requested, and the temple 
 being built was called Nanda-teee goon, or ' Caves of Nanda.' The term Ananda, by which 
 the temple is now known, is a corruption, arising from the name of Ananda, the cousin and 
 favourite disciple of Gautama, being so well known to the people. The representation of 
 a cave is a favourite style of building among the Burmese for depositing images.* This is 
 not wonderful among the votaries of a religion which regards an ascetic life in the wilder- 
 ness as the highest state for mortals in this world." f 
 
 Major Phayre mentioned another probable origin of the name of this temple, viz. from 
 the Sanskrit Anemia, " The Endless ; " which seems to be supported by the fact that an- 
 other great temple close at hand is called Thapinyu, " The Omniscient." J 
 
 To reach the Ananda we passed out through the principal eastern gate of the ancient 
 city. The remains of the defences form a distinct mound and ditch, traceable in their entire 
 circuit, and large masses of the brick-work still stand at intervals, but I saw none in which 
 any feature of the architecture, or portion of the battlements, was distinguishable. The 
 gate has some remains of architectural design, and ornament of a rich character in plaster, 
 with foliated pilaster capitals and festoons; but these remnants have been disfigured and 
 obscured by the erection of two coarse modern niches with figures of Warders. A few 
 yards beyond the gate are the square sandstone inscribed pillars mentioned by Mr. Craw- 
 furd. Their appearance is suggestive of great antiquity and interest But the expectation 
 of the latter would probably be disappointed by an interpretation. The character appeared 
 to be square || Burmese of a very neat and uniform type, as indeed most of the Burmese 
 inscriptions are, and very much superior in execution to what our lapidary inscriptions 
 were a century ago. 
 
 In the precincts of the Ananda we entered a large group of monastic buildings, forming 
 
 * Several of the temples at Pagan are named in this way ; e.g. Shwe-koo, " The Golden Cave ;" Sembyo- 
 koo, " The White Elephant Cave," &c. 
 
 t Note by Major Phayre. 
 
 \ So in a legend given in Hardy's Manual of Budhitm, Gautama announces himself thus; "I am 
 above all ; I am the conqueror of Mara (Death) ; I am ananta jinaya" (the Ever-living ?). — P. 185. 
 
 § I do not know whether it has been noticed that the circular form of the ordinary Burmese character, 
 as of the Ooria,the Teloogoo, and several other South Indian alphabets, is a necessary result of the prac- 
 tice of writing on palm-leaves with a style. Certain of the sacred books which are written in the square 
 character are inscribed with a black gum (the thit-see) used as ink. 
 
< 
 
 l±J 
 
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 Q. 
 
 S 
 Ul 
 
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 V*. 
 
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 ■ ••• 
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THE REMAINS AT PAGAN. 37 
 
 a street of some length. These in beauty of detail and combination, were admirable. The 
 wood-carving was rich and effective beyond description ; photography only could do it 
 justice. 
 
 Great fancy was displayed in the fantastic figures of warriors, dancers, Nats (spirits), 
 and Bilds (ogres), in high relief, that filled the angles and niches of the sculptured surfaces. 
 The fretted pinnacles of the ridge ornaments were topped with birds cut in profile, in every 
 attitude of sleeping, pecking, stalking, or taking wing. With permission of a venerable 
 and toothless poongyi, we looked into a chamber, which was a perfect museum of quaint 
 and rich gilt carving, in small shrines, book-chests, &c, not unlike the omnium gatherum 
 of a Chinese josshouse. One chamber contained, among other things, a neat model of a 
 wooden monastery with its appropriate carving. 
 
 The most elaborate of these religious buildings is stated to have been built only a few 
 years ago by a man of Ye-nan-gyoung ; probably some millionnaire of the oil-trade. 
 
 In the same monastic street a brick building, in the external form of aKyoung, contains 
 a corridor entirely covered with rude paintings on the plaster. These are all, Major Phayre 
 informs me, representations of Jdts, or passages in the life of Gautama in various periods 
 of pre-existence. The greater part of the scenes appeared to depict the amusements and 
 employments of ordinary life, such as feasting, hunting, weaving, looking at plays, being 
 shampooed, and the like. The persons represented, like the marionhettes in the puppet-plays, 
 were all exhibited with pure white complexions. By a curious self-delusion, the Burmans 
 would seem to claim that in theory at least they are a white people.* And, what is still 
 more curious, the Bengalees appear indirectly to admit the claim ; for our servants, in 
 speaking of themselves and their countrymen, as distinguished from the Burmans, con- 
 stantly made use of the term " Kala. admi " — black man, as the representative of the 
 Burmese Kola, a foreigner. 
 
 In one part of the series were some representations of punishment in the Buddhist 
 hells. Demons were pictured beating out the brains of the unhappy with clubs, or 
 elephants trampling on them ; and in one place was a perfect picture of Prometheus ; the 
 victim lying on the ground, whilst a monstrous unclean bird pecked at his side. 
 
 From this monastic colony a wooden colonnade, covered with the usual carved gables 
 and tapering slender spires, led to the northern doorway of the Ananda. 
 
 This remarkable building, with a general resemblance in character to the other great 
 temples, has some marked peculiarities and felicities of its own. They all suggest, but this 
 perhaps above them all suggests, strange memories of the temples of Southern Catholic 
 Europe. The Ananda is in plan a square of nearly two hundred feet to the side, and broken 
 on each side by the projection of large gabled vestibules, which convert the plan into a 
 perfect Greek cross. | These vestibules are somewhat lower than the square mass of the 
 building, which elevates itself to a height of thirty-five feet in two tiers of windows. 
 
 * But so also thought some of the old travellers. Thus Vincent Leblanc says : " The people (of 
 Pegu) are rather whites than blacks, and well shaped." I think I have seen some Brahmins fairer than 
 any Burmans. But the average tint in Burma is much lighter than in India. One never, I believe, sees 
 a Burman to whom the word black could be applied fairly. 
 
 f See a plan of the Ananda in Plate VIII. 
 
38 
 
 THE REMAINS AT PAGAN. 
 
 Above tli is rise six successively diminishing terraces, connected by curved converging 
 roofs, the last terrace just affording breadth for the spire which crowns and completes the 
 edifice. The lower half of this spire is the bulging, mitre-like pyramid adapted from the 
 temples of India, such as I have described atTantabeng: the upper half is the same 
 moulded taper pinnacle that terminates the common bell-shaped pagodas of Pegu. The 
 gilded htee caps the whole at a height of 168 feet above the ground.* 
 
 The building internally consists of two concentric and lofty corridors, communicating 
 by passages for light opposite the windows, and by larger openings to the four porches. 
 Opposite each of these latter, and receding from the inner corridor towards the centre of 
 the building, is a cell or chamber for an idol. In each this idol is a colossal standing figure 
 upwards of thirty feet in height. They vary 
 slightly in size and gesture, but all are in 
 attitudes of prayer, preaching, or benediction. 
 Each stands, facing the porch and entrance, 
 on a great carved lotus pedestal, within rails, 
 like the chancel-rails of an English church. 
 There are gates to each of these chambers, 
 noble frames of timber rising to a height of 
 four-and-twenty feet. The frame-bars are 
 nearly a foot in thickness, and richly carved 
 on the surface in undercut foliage ; the panels 
 are of lattice work, each intersection of the 
 lattice marked with a gilt rosette. 
 
 The lighting of these image chambers is, 
 perhaps, the most singular feature of the whole. 
 The lofty vault, nearly fifty feet high, in which 
 stands the idolf canopied by a valance of gilt 
 metal curiously wrought, reaches up into the 
 second terrace of the upper structure, and a 
 window pierced in this sends a light from 
 far above the spectator's head, and from an 
 unseen source, upon the head and shoidders 
 of the great gilded image. This unexpected 
 and partial illumination in the dim recesses 
 of these vaulted corridors produces a very 
 powerful and strange effect, especially on 
 the north side, where the front light through the great doorway is entirely subdued by 
 the roofs of the covered approach from the monastic establishments.} 
 
 * See Plate IV. for an elevation of the Ananda. 
 t See Section in Plate V. 
 
 X A similar artistic introduction of the light is mentioned by Mr. Fergusson as characterising " the 
 great rock-cut basilicas of India." {Handbook of Arch. i. 313). May this not have been imitated in the 
 
 Fig. 18. 
 
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THE REMAINS AT l'AGAN. 39 
 
 These four great statues represent the four Buddhas who have appeared in the present 
 World-Period.* 
 
 The temple, like the other great temples here, is surrounded by a square enclosure wall 
 with a gate in each face. " That to the north is the only one in repair. This was, no doubt, 
 intended as the principal entrance, and has the image of Gautama placed there ; but it is 
 difficult to say why the western entrance was not chosen for this distinction,! as it is directly 
 in sight of the Tan-Kyee hill and Pagoda, on the opposite side of the Irawadi, where 
 Gautama himself stood with his favourite disciple Ananda, and predicted the future 
 building and greatness of the city of Pagan. Perhaps the north was chosen as being the 
 direction in which Gautama first walked after the moment of his birth."$ 
 
 In the centre of the vestibule on the western side stands cut in stone, on an elevated 
 and railed platform, a representation of the impression of Gautama's feet. In the galleries 
 .or corridors running round the building, disposed in niches along the massive walls, at 
 regular distances apart, are numerous images of Gautama, and sculptured groups of figures 
 illustrating particular events of his life. These have been covered over with a substance 
 resembling thitsee (black .gum resin) and vermilion.§ The strong similaiity of features and 
 style in these sculptures to the remains found in Central India, appears to indicate that 
 they have been the work of Indian artists. The groups and single figures are upwards of 
 1500 in number. 
 
 The outer corridor is roofed with a continuous flying buttress, or half-pointed arch, 
 abutting on the massive outer walls. The inner corridor and cells are pointed vaults. || 
 
 One of the peculiar features of the Ananda is the curved slope given to the roofs both 
 of the porches and of the main building, as if preserving the extrados of the arch which lies 
 beneath. In all the other temples the roofs are flat. This, with the massive gables which 
 are thus formed at the ends of the porches, and the great scrolls, if we may call them so, 
 at the wings of these gables, probably go far in producing that association with the churches 
 of southern Europe to which I have alluded. % Still these scrolls are perfectly Burman, 
 
 Ananda, and may the fact not be in some degree a confirmation of the legend that caves were intended 
 to be represented by these vaults ? " The vault of a hollow pagoda is called in Burmese Koo, which is 
 the word for a cave." — Phayre. 
 
 * They are said to be composed of different materials as follows : — " The image to the east is the 
 Buddha Kankathan, made of a sweet-scented wood called Dan-tsa-goo. To the west is Ka-ihaba, made 
 of brass. To the north Gautama, of fir ; to the south Ganno-goon, of jasmine-wood. Whatever the 
 original material of these images may have been, it appears now that the outer coating of each is of plaster 
 richly gilt over." — Major Phayre. 
 
 f Compare Cunningham's Topes of Bhiha, p. 191. It there appears that at No. 1 Tope at Sanchi, 
 within the inclosure and immediately facing each entrance, there is a large figure, once under a canopy. 
 That to the east Major Cunningham considers to be " KRAKUCHANDA, first mortal Buddha ; that to 
 the south, KANAKA ; to the west, K AS YAP A ; and to the north, SAKYA SINHA" (Gautama). 
 Hence it would appear that the figures in the Ananda were not placed arbitrarily, but according to 
 orthodox Buddhistic tradition. 
 
 % Major Phayre. 
 
 § Major Phayre's notes. 
 
 || See Section of the Ananda, in Plate V. 
 
 IT Compare, for example, the elevation of the entrance to one of the vestibules of the Ananda as 
 given in Plate IV. with a very common type of facade in Italian churches. 
 
40 THE KEMAIKS AT TAGAN. 
 
 and seem identical with the horn-like ornaments which are so characteristic of the Burman 
 timber buildings. Here they are backed (another unique circumstance) by lions rising 
 gradatim along each limb of the gable or pediment. The windows also of the main building, 
 standing out from the wall surface with their effective mouldings, pilasters, and canopies, 
 recall the views of some of the great Peninsular monasteries. 
 
 But not the exterior only was redolent of kindred suggestions. The impression on us 
 (I speak of Major Allan, Mr. Oldham, and myself), as we again and again paced the dim 
 and lofty corridors of the Ananda, was that of traversing some sombre and gigantic pile 
 appropriated to the cabals and tortures of the Inquisition. No architecture could better 
 suit such uses. And in the evening, as I sat in the western vestibule sketching the colossal 
 idol before me, the chanted prayers of the worshippers before the northern cell boomed 
 along the aisles in strange resemblance to the chant of the priests in a Roman Catholic 
 cathedral. 
 
 Of the details of architecture I shall speak below ; but before proceeding to describe any 
 of the other temples, it may be well to notice the material of which they are built. This, I 
 believe to be in every case the same, viz. what we call in India kucha pukka work, that is 
 to say, brick cemented with mud only. Mr. Crawfurd supposed the temples to be of brick 
 and lime mortar. But I satisfied myself that this is not the case, and that the penetration 
 of the plaster, which had been applied to the walls and corridors, into some of the joints had 
 misled him.* We are not indeed accustomed in India to conceive of mud-cemented edifices 
 200 feet in height. Of these it is to be said that they are so massive as to be practically 
 almost solid ; so that the vaults and corridors rather resemble excavations in the mass than 
 structural interiors. It is also to be said, however, that they are built with a care and 
 elaboration which I never saw bestowed on a structure of such material in India, and which 
 the Burmans of the present day seem remotely incapable of in brickwork of any kind. On 
 the outside at least, in the better buildings, every brick has been cut and rubbed to fit with 
 such nicety that it is difficult, and sometimes not possible, to insert the blade of a knife between 
 the joints, f The arches and semi-arches are carefully formed of bricks moulded in the 
 radiating form of voussoirs. The peculiarity of these arches is, that in general the bricks 
 are laid edge to edge in the curve of the arch, instead of being laid parallel with its axis, 
 as among other nations.^ The exterior arch-faces of the smaller doors and windows are, 
 however, laid in the European way, with the bricks cheek to cheek. § 
 
 The bricks are usually about fourteen inches by seven (I here speak from memory), 
 and well moulded, but they are not very well burnt 
 
 Such being the substance of the structure, all the ornamental finish is consequently 
 executed in the plaster, which, even without view to ornament, would have been essential 
 to the preservation of the buildings. 
 
 * Mr. Oldham notes his impression that the Bodhi temple is built with lime mortar. 
 
 t Captain Chapman, R.A., in his account of the remains of the ancient Ceylonese capital at Anura- 
 japoora, notices the extraordinary closeness and finish of the brickwork in some of them. {Journal of 
 the Royal Asiatic Society, ii. 476.) There is, I think, reason to believe, that the Singhalese had to do 
 with the building of Pagan. 
 
 % See Plate IX. Fig. 6. § Ibid. Fig. 2. 
 
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THE REMAINS AT PAGAN. 41 
 
 Where the plaster has been kept in repair, the buildings remain apparently perfect. 
 Where the original plaster has decayed, and has not been renewed, the temples are in 
 ruins. But it is in the latter only that we can learn to do justice to the spirit of art that 
 adorned these monuments. The renewals and repairs have been executed by barbarous 
 and tasteless hands. Of this I shall speak more fully by-and-by. 
 
 The second great temple of Pagan is the Thapinyu, "The Omniscient."* 
 
 It is stated to have been built in the reign of A-loung-tsee-chyoo Men, grandson of 
 the king who erected the Ananda, about the year of our era llOO.f 
 
 Tt stands within the ancient walls, some five hundred yards to the south-west of the 
 Ananda, and its taper spire, rising to a height of 201 feet from the ground, overtops all the 
 other monuments. 
 
 Its general plan is not unlike that of the Ananda,} but it does not, like the latter, form 
 a symmetrical cross. The eastern porch alone projects considerably from the wall. The 
 body of the building forms a massive square of more than 180 feet to the side. 
 
 The characteristic of the Thapinyu is the great elevation of the mass before considerable 
 diminution of spread takes place, and the position of the principal shrine high above the 
 ground. 
 
 We have first a spacious two-storied basement like that of the Ananda; then two 
 receding terraces. But here the usual gradation is interrupted. The third terrace, 
 instead of rising a few feet only like the others, starts at one leap aloft to a height of some 
 fifty feet, in a truly massive and stupendous cubical donjon, crowned again at top by a 
 renewal of the pyramidal gradation of terraces, and by the inevitable culminating spire.§ 
 
 Within this donjon, in a lofty vaulted hall opening by pointed gateways to the east, 
 north, and south, and directly under the apex of the spire, sits the great image of the shrine. 
 This is, with one exception, the only instance I have seen in these temples, in which the 
 core of the building beneath the central spire had been hollowed into a chamber. || 
 
 The principal shrine of the temple being thus in the lofty upper tower, the basement 
 contains little of interest in the interior arrangements. There is on the ground level but 
 one corridor, with images in the halls opposite the north, south, and west doorways. The 
 main, or eastern doorway, is faced by a staircase leading to the upper terraces, but first to 
 a curious mezzanine or entresol, forming a double corridor running round the basement 
 story at the level of the second tier of windows. This also is a peculiarity of the Thapinyu. 
 
 The Gauda-palen is the third and last of the greater temples which have been kept in 
 repair. It dates from the reign of Narapatee-tseethoo, about a.d. 1160. 
 
 Crawfurd explains the name as signifying "the throne of Gauda" — a Nat or spirit. 
 
 * Sansc. Sarvajna is one of the epithets of Buddha, of which I doubt not that Thapinyu is a Bur- 
 mese corruption through the Palee. 
 
 t The dates given are those traditionally ascribed to the temples, and are the same with those 
 already given by Crawfurd. Major Phayre considered the inscriptions at Pagan, so far as he had time 
 to examine them, to confirm these dates. 
 
 % See ground-plan of Thapinyu in Plate VIII. 
 
 § See an elevation of the Thapinyu in Plate VI. 
 
 | This part of the construction will be understood from the Section in Plate VII. 
 
 a 
 
42 THE KEMAINS AT PAGAN. 
 
 Major Phayre, though unable to obtain a satisfactory solution of the name, expressed strong 
 disbelief that a Buddhist temple could be named after a Nat. 
 
 Though of great size, and rising to a height of 180 feet, this temple covers a considerably 
 less area than the two already described. It is within the city walls, and stands on lower 
 ground than they do. But being nearer the river it is very conspicuous in approaching 
 Pagan from the southward. Gleaming in its white plaster, with numerous pinnacles and 
 tall central spire, we had seen it from far down the Irawadi rising like a dim vision of 
 Milan Cathedral. This enchantment is lost of course on nearer approach, though still 
 strongly suggestive of south European church architecture, more so perhaps than any other 
 of these buildings, except the Ananda. It is cruciform in plan, and stands on a low 
 parapetted terrace irregularly following the outline.* 
 
 It is more compact and elevated in proportion to its bulk than the two former buildings, 
 but resembles them in general character, exhibiting a massive basement with porches, and 
 rising above in a pyramidal gradation of terraces, crowned by a spire and htee. The latter 
 has broken from its stays at one side, and now leans over almost horizontally, having torn 
 with it the acorn of brick-work which caps the spire, and threatening speedy downfal. 
 
 From the last terrace below the spire we had a noble prospect of the vast field of 
 ruined temples stretching north, east, and south ; and Mr. Grant devoted many laborious 
 hours to sketching this panorama. 
 
 All these three buildings have been kept in repair, and "beautified" in some church- 
 warden spirit, more to their loss than gain. One other important temple within the city 
 walls has also been kept in repair. Its date is given by Mr. Crawfurd as about the year 
 1200. This is the Bodlii\ described and delineated by him. It is different in style 
 from the other temples, and very inferior in size, majesty, and art The basement is a 
 quadrangular block of no great height, supporting a tall spire strongly resembling that of the 
 ordinary Hindoo Sivdlaya, and still more strongly the Sikra of the Jain temples near the 
 river Barakar in Bengal, and of some of the ancient Hindoo temples delineated by Mr. 
 Fergusson, such as those at Bhubaneswar in Orissa and that at Barolli in Rajputana. The 
 latter, in general effect, has a considerable resemblance to the Bodhi as seen from a 
 distance. J Both base and spire are covered with niches, bearing seated Gautamas, and 
 interspersed with ornamental panels and mouldings. This gives the building a very rich 
 appearance at a little distance ; but, closely viewed, the execution is execrably rough and 
 inaccurate, and there is an absence of the whole spirit of art visible in what I must call the 
 greater and purer works. 
 
 In these there is an actual sublimity of architectural effect, which excites wonder, 
 almost awe, and takes hold of the imagination in a manner that renders apology for them 
 as " Burmese," absurdly out of place. § There is no such spell in the Bodhi, which only 
 
 * See Plate VIII. for a ground-plan of Gauda-palen, and Place X. for a view of it as seen from the 
 north-east. 
 
 f Bodhi signifies the Peepul-tree, under which Gautama attained the Buddha-hood. 
 
 I See Fergusson's Ancient Architecture of Hindustan, Plate VII. 
 
 § " We were all struck with awe," says Mr. Oldham, in his Journal, " at the littleness of our in- 
 dividual might in the presence of such evidence of combined power and exertion." 
 
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THE REMAINS AT PAGAN. 43 
 
 recalls the Hindoo temple, of which a thousand specimens infinitely superior in material 
 and w orkmanship are to be seen at Benares and Mirzapoor ; to say nothing of the older 
 and finer works in other parts of India, of which I have scarcely any personal knowledge. 
 
 Omitting further consideration of the last-named building, the architectural elements of 
 which the great temples are composed, with hundreds of smaller ones in the same style, 
 are nearly the same in all, though combined in considerable variety. 
 
 The pointed arch is found in all, and is almost universally the form of the doorways. 
 It is universally inclosed in a framework, or facade, exhibiting an arch dressing of a 
 triangular or almost parabolic shape, drooping in cusps of a characteristic form, and sur- 
 mounted by a sort of pediment of graduated flame-like spires and horns of very peculiar 
 character. This cusped arch and these flamboyant spires and horns are, in a modified 
 form, part of the style of ornament universal in the elaborate timber monasteries of Burma. 
 The style seemed to me more natural in the latter material, and I felt more inclined to be- 
 lieve that the masonry ornamentation had been (as in so many other climates) adapted 
 from that of timber, than the architecture of the temples modified to suit the timber struc- 
 tures. This opinion changed, after my return to Calcutta, and access to drawings enabled 
 me to trace the prototype of this flamboyant ornament in the temples of Southern India. 
 Whether, again, this pattern did not originate in a preceding timber model is too remote a 
 question. Even in the cave- temples of Western India Mr. Fergusson traces distinctly the 
 imitation of timber construction. 
 
 In the greater doorways, this cusped arch face and pediment is generally supported at 
 each side by a semi-arch and semi-pediment of like character, at a lower level. 
 
 All these arches and semi-arches rest on regular pilasters, with base, capital, and 
 cornice, the singular resemblance of which, both in general character and in many of the 
 details of mouldings, to the pilasters of Roman architecture, is startling, perplexing, and 
 unaccountable to me by any theory I have yet heard propounded, if anything like the true 
 date has been assigned to these buildings. 
 
 The following extract from Mr. Oldham's Journal well expresses the feeling with 
 which several members of the Mission involuntarily viewed these structures with reference 
 to their origin : — 
 
 " So strongly unlike all other Burman buildings, can these have owed their origin to 
 the skill of a Western Christian or Missionary, who may have adopted largely the 
 ornamentation of the Burmese, and ingrafted much of their detail and arrangements on 
 his own idea of a temple? May not the true cross-like plan of the Ananda be thus 
 symbolical, and may he not, in the long-trusting hope of a zealous worshipper of Christ, 
 have looked forward to the time when this noble pile might be turned from the worship of 
 an unknown god to the service of the Most High ? " "I can't think any Burman ever 
 designed or planned such buildings. They are opposed to the general plan of their con- 
 structions If they did design them, the Burmans of those days were very different 
 
 from the Burmans of the present day." 
 
 Such an impression, I know, was almost irresistible at times when on the spot. But, 
 
44 THE REMAINS AT PAGAN. 
 
 ■without going much into argument on the subject, I cannot think it probably founded in 
 truth. There is not, I believe, reason to believe that any missionaries, or Europeans of 
 any kind, found their way to these trans- Gangetic regions in the days when these temples 
 were founded.* If there had been communication, we must go farther back for it. And 
 the points of resemblance are rather to Roman architecture, properly so called, than to 
 anything of later date, so far as I know, before the fifteenth century. And even this 
 Roman character is so mixed up and blended with other touches and details so utterly 
 un-Roman and original, that one cannot conceive so spirited and effective a fusion to have 
 been produced by any chance European aid. 
 
 To return to details. The angles of all the chief buildings are formed into pilasters 
 such as we have spoken of, supporting a regular and bold cornice, and resting on a regular 
 and varied series of basement mouldings which run all round the building. 
 
 These cornices and basements are, in almost all the buildings, formed of the same 
 succession of members ; but it is only from the study and comparison of the remains 
 of the unrepaired and unbarbarised temples that their full intention and true character 
 can be made out.f 
 
 Every main cornice, for instance, is crowned with a sort of battlemented parapet, 
 assuming in the repaired buildings a coarse, incongruous appearance in rude plaster-work. J 
 In the temples which remain in their original state, such as Sudha Munee (of which I have 
 unfortunately no drawings), and Sembyo-koo (Plate XL), we find these battlements to be 
 but the settings of embossed and glazed, and sometimes also richly-coloured tiles, which, in 
 fact, must have formed a brilliant "polychromatic" (to use the slang of the day) coronet 
 to each successive terrace of the temple. 
 
 In the basement mouldings, as truly seen in the older buildings, the upper limb is an 
 ogee carved in bold foliation of truly classical character. (See Plate IX. Fig. 17.) 
 
 This in the restorations and beautifications, even of such buildings as the Ananda, has 
 been, by the coarse and tasteless perceptions of the modern architects, degraded into an 
 idiotic and misplaced repetition of the battlemented crown of the cornice. (See, for 
 example, the elevation of the Ananda and Thapinyu, and the basement of Gaudapalen, 
 as given in Plate IX. Fig. 11, comparing the latter with Fig. 17.) 
 
 The basement, again, always centres in a sort of entablature, or dado, set with alternate 
 recessed panels and projecting blocks. (Plate IX. Figs. 11, 13.) 
 
 The true meaning of these has fortunately been preserved in the Ananda, as well as in 
 some of the more shattered buildings. In these the panels are occupied by tiles moulded 
 in relief. In the Ananda, the tiles represent a variety of somewhat rude groups of figures 
 and animals, with alphabetic characters over them. 
 
 * See in Chapter VIII. an abstract of the chronology of Burmese intercourse with the West. 
 
 t A small but beautiful example of the Pagan architecture in its typical form is the Semhyo-Koo, or 
 " Cave of the White Elephant," of which a part is shown in Plate XL, and several details are given in 
 Plate IX. Figs. 14 to 17. 
 
 % See, for instance, Plate IX. Fig. 12. 
 
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THE EEMAINS AT PAGAN. 
 
 45 
 
 Fig. 19. 
 
 In other smaller buildings we have seen them glazed and artistically embossed, repre- 
 senting a variety of orna- 
 mental figures, sometimes 
 the Greek honeysuckle, 
 prancing horses, pelicans, 
 &c. In the Sudha Mu- 
 nee, these impanelled 
 tiles were, like those of 
 the battlements, coloured 
 in enamel. 
 
 Most of the shafts, as 
 well as bases and capi- 
 tals of pilasters, the cusped 
 arches, flamboyant spires 
 
 of the door and window canopies, &c, and often, too, the cornice and basement mouldings, 
 appear to have been originally sculptured (in the stucco) with great richness of effect.* 
 And often this effect, in foliage and other ornamentation, is produced by very slight 
 indications and incisions in the plastered surface. These incisions have been made with 
 such instinctive art and suggestive skill, that, viewed at a little distance, the most elaborate 
 modelling could scarcely have produced the desired effect more completely. 
 
 All this disappears before the ruthless hand of the restorer, and is replaced by a rude 
 plastered surface, scratched without taste, art, or result The old work, rough as it is 
 sometimes, is the bold rough sketch of an accomplished artist The work of the repairer 
 compared with it is like a school-boy's chalkings on the wall. 
 
 I may now venture to point out a few analogies bearing on the origin of this remark- 
 able architecture. 
 
 My attention had not previously been turned to ancient Hindoo architecture ; and over 
 a great part of the Presidency to which I belong there are scarcely any remains affording 
 opportunity to become acquainted with it. But the result of the search that I have been 
 able to make since my return from Burma, will perhaps establish the fact, that nearly the 
 whole of the details are of Indian origin. 
 
 I have noticed the resemblance of the spire of these Pagan temples to the common 
 Hindoo Sivalaya. But its absolute identity with a more ancient form of Hindoo temple 
 will be seen by a comparison of the spire of the Ananda (Plate IV.) with the ancient 
 Indian " Vimana," as given by Mr. Fergusson in the introduction to his " Ancient Archi- 
 tecture of Hindoostan." 
 
 The most universal and characteristic feature in the Pagan architecture is, perhaps, the 
 pediment, or canopy, of flamboyant spires over the doors and windows. Compare some of 
 the doorways in Ram Raz's " Essay on the Architecture of Southern India," with the 
 
 * See examples of this stucco-work in Plate IX. Figs. 14, 15, and 16, for which I am indebted to the 
 kind help of Mr. Oldham. Captain Tripe's illness on our second short visit to Pagan unfortunately pre- 
 vented the photographic illustration of these and other details. 
 
46 THE REMAINS AT PAGAN. 
 
 window of Dhamayangyee at Pagan, as shown in Plate IX. Fig. 4, and it will be impos- 
 sible, I think, to doubt that this feature was derived from India. 
 
 The resemblance is still closer in the doorway of the great temple of Dambool in 
 Ceylon, as given in Sir J. E. Tennent's book on Christianity in that island. I have not 
 been able to find any good views of the Ceylonese remains, otherwise I doubt not that the 
 closest type of the Burmese architecture would be traced in these. 
 
 Compare, again, the horned and grinning heads which occur so constantly at Pagan in 
 the ornamentation of pilasters, as in Figs. 8, 9, and 14, of Plate IX., with heads of a 
 similar character over the doorways in Ram Raz's examples just referred to. If there 
 is any doubt as to the identical origin of these, it must disappear when we find at Pagan 
 such a head (Plate IX. Fig. 7) occupying exactly the same position as in the Indian 
 doorway, and surrounded by the same flame-like spires in both cases. This Gorgon-head, 
 as Raffles calls it, in nearly all the ancient Javanese temples, occupies the same position 
 over the doorways. It is there usually on an exaggerated scale ; but it assumes its most 
 monstrous form in the " Tiger-cave " of Cuttack, where a colossal tusked and grinning 
 head envelopes the whole entrance. (See "Journal Asiatic Society of Bengal" 1841.) 
 This Gorgon-head, as well as the cusped arch and indications of the flamboyant points, are 
 seen in a plate, by the late Major Kittoe, of a niche at Badeswur containing an image of 
 Parbati. (" Journ. As. Soc. of Bengal" Vol. viii. p. 384.) 
 
 Take, again, the monstrous trunked and toothed creatures, disgorging scroll-work, over 
 the pilasters of the Dhamayangyee window just referred to. In several of the drawings 
 in Colonel Mackenzie's collections, almost exactly similar monsters will be found occu- 
 pying a similar position over doorways in Southern India. 
 
 Look at the festoon ornament of beads and tassels pendent from the mouths of 
 monstrous grinning heads, as seen in the Gaudapalen (Plate IX. Fig. 9), and in the 
 Sembyo-koo (Plate XI.) It is one of those details which at first sight were strongly 
 suggestive of European origin. But it is absolutely identical with the adornments of a 
 pillar in a temple on the Madras coast, given by Colonel Mackenzie in his collections. 
 Similar ornament is seen in the Assam remains described in a late number of the Bengal 
 Asiatic Society's Journal ; on a pillar at Barolli, in Rajpootana, given by Fergusson from 
 Todd's Rajasthan; and on a pillar at Jajeepoor in Cuttack, figured by Major Kittoe 
 in the Journ. As. Soc. of Bengal, Vol. vii. p. 54 ; as well as in two sculptured pillars 
 found in the sands of the Ganges near Pubna, which now stand at the door of the Asiatic 
 Society's Museum in Calcutta. A modified rendering of the same, Mr. Oldham tells me, 
 he found on some of the fragments at Benares College, which are said to have been 
 brought from the ancient Buddhist Pagoda of Sarnath, near that city, and very lately on 
 a sculptured stone which he lighted on among the forests of the Nerbudda valley. Remark 
 those curious little peaks, or acrotena, which terminate so many of the flat projecting 
 mouldings in all the Pagan temples (e.g. see Plate IX. Figs. 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, and 17.) 
 It is a feature found all over India. It is given by Mr. Fergusson as one of the character- 
 istics in his generalized drawing of a Mantapa, or vestibule of an ancient Hindoo temple ; 
 it appears in Lieutenant Maisey's drawings of Kalinjar ; it is seen in many of Colonel 
 
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THE REMAINS AT PAGAN. 47 
 
 Mackenzie's drawings ; and the closest resemblance, not only in this feature, hut in the 
 manner of its application, will be seen at a glance, on comparing the gate of Bhubaneswar, 
 in Orissa, as given by Mr. Fergusson, with that very common form of doorway at Pagan, 
 of which an elevation is shown in Plate IX. Fig. 10. The same feature is seen in an 
 Assam column in the article referred to above, and is found on a large scale in the temples 
 of Java. (See Raffles, Vol. ii.)* 
 
 Enough has been made out, I think, to show that all, or nearly all, the details of work 
 at Pagan must have had an Indian origin. But this is far from removing the perplexity 
 connected with the origin of these buildings. Grant that all details were borrowed from 
 India. But where shall we find in India any model of the composition ? where anything 
 approaching the classical beauty of the Sem-byo-koo, or the stupendous architectural 
 majesty of the Thapinyu and the Ananda ? f 
 
 The Bur man, rejecting indeed, in the pride of his philosophy, the idea of an Eternal 
 Divinity, but recognising the eternal sanctities of nature and conscience, has reared nobler 
 fanes and far more worthy to become the temples of the true God than the Hindoo, with 
 those his deities so numerous and impure. 
 
 I have said above, that nearly all the details at Pagan must have had an Indian origin. 
 But this does not apply to construction. The arches and vaults, which are such marked 
 features in the Pagan temples, are quite unknown to ancient Hindoo architecture. " As 
 far as my own knowledge and researches go," says Mr. Fergusson, " I am certain that I 
 have never been able to detect any trace of an arch in any ancient (Indian) building." % 
 
 Having no more to say on the general subject of this architecture, I have still to offer 
 a few notices of remarkable temples not yet described. 
 
 About three quarters of a mile south-east of the ancient city is the great temple of 
 Dhamayangyee. 
 
 This temple, which dates from the reign of Kala-Kya Men (" The king dethroned by 
 foreigners "),§ about a.d. 1153, in its general arrangement resembles the Ananda more 
 closely than any other, and covers about the same area, though the greater bulk of the 
 
 * The necessity of putting limits to illustration compels me to omit a plate of these analogies, for 
 which I had prepared a drawing. 
 
 t Perhaps the nearest analogy in general form is to bo found in the rock-cut Raihs (as they are called) 
 of Mahabalipooram near Sadras. 
 
 There is also something suggestive of the Pagan style in the general arrangement of the Javanese 
 temples described by Raffles (including the peculiarity of the cruciform plan), as well as in some of the 
 details which I have already noticed. 
 
 Mr. Fergusson, to whom I have had the pleasure of showing the drawings since the text was written, 
 has kindly promised me a note on the architecture of the remains, which will be found in the Appendix. 
 
 % Ancient Architecture of Hindustan, p. 12. 
 
 § Colonel Forbes (Eleven Yean in Ceylon) quotes the allusion in Crawfurd's Narrative to this de- 
 throned founder of the temple, as remarkably confirmatory of a passage in Tumour's Epitome of the 
 Singhalese chronology. 
 
 This passage states that "the king of Cambodia and Arramana," having inflicted many outrages and 
 insults on Singhalese subjects and ambassadors, the king Praa-krama-bahoo, who came to the throne 
 
48 THE REMAINS AT PAGAN. 
 
 vestibules, and greater height of the main walls of the building, must have rendered it, 
 when perfect, even more imposing. A view of the Dhamayangyee is given in Plate XII., 
 and some of the architectural details in Plate IX. Figs. 7 and 8. The upper part of the 
 temple is all in sad decay, and the six terraces and crowning spire have well-nigh become a 
 shapeless pyramid of brick rubbish. The lower story, however, is in good general pre- 
 servation ; and, as it is nearly stript of its plaster, it affords a good opportunity of examining 
 the admirable workmanship of these buildings, of which I have already spoken. Where 
 the plaster-work remains it shows a boldness and richness superior to anything in the more 
 perfect temples. For the usual horn-like wing of the door-pediments is here generally 
 substituted a monstrous animal disgorging up-curving scrolls from his gaping jaws. (See 
 Plate IX. Fig. 6.) Here, too, are seen in perfection those perplexing pilasters with their 
 quasi-Roman mouldings (Figs. 6 and 7) ; and here, to my delight, I discovered a perfect 
 flat brick arch over a window.* There were two of these in each wing of the temple, and 
 one of them in particular was as perfect in construction, in joints and radiation, as any 
 London builder could turn out. No suggestion of European or Indian aid would help 
 here. At least I doubt if in the twelfth century the flat brick arch was known in Europe,f 
 and I know that in the nineteenth it is one of the most difficult things to get done decently 
 in India. In one of the other buildings Mr. Oldham told me that he saw not only a flat 
 arch (not however correctly radiated), but also a segmental discharging arch over it. 
 
 The interior of Dhamayangyee contains but one accessible corridor. All the openings 
 leading farther inward have been built up for some unknown reason. Major Phayre was 
 of opinion that this temple never had been finished. I think there are good reasons on the 
 other side, but the question is, perhaps, not worth arguing. 
 
 The arch of the western main entrances, and probably the others, have the edges of 
 the intrados entirely composed of roughly-dressed stone voussoirs, regularly arranged as 
 headers and stretchers.^ In the corner of the building and in the minor arches stones are 
 introduced occasionally as binders. § This has been noticed by Mr. Crawfurd, as well as 
 the inscribed stones which are found in the northern and western vestibules. In the latter, 
 opposite the entrance, is a remarkable group of sitting figures. 
 
 The Dhamayangyee is encompassed by a high brick wall of some 250 yards square. 
 This wall is built with as much care and skill, and with almost as elaborate mouldings, as 
 the edifice which it incloses, and consequently it remains very perfect. More beautiful 
 
 a.d. 1153, sailed with a great armament, landed in Arramana, vanquished the enemy, and obtained full 
 satisfaction. 
 
 Tumour says that Arramana " comprises probably the provinces between Arracan and Siam.'' In 
 the great inscription on marble at the Khoung-mhoo-dau pagoda near Ava, the districts of Hentha-wadee 
 (Pegu), Digoun (Rangoon), Dala, Kothein (Bassein), Young-mya, and Mouttama (Martaban), are said to 
 constitute the kingdom of Yamaniya (Ramaniya) ; which is doubtless the Arramana of the Ceylonese. 
 
 * See this arch in Plate IX. Fig. 3. Justice is not done to the fineness of the work. 
 
 f The only fiat stone arches that I recollect to have seen in mediccval buildings are in the side- 
 aisles of Roslin Chapel, in some ancient chimney-pieces, and in the magnificent Saracen gateway of Cairo 
 called Bab-El-Fitoor. They may be more common than I am aware of. 
 
 \ See Plate IX. Fig. 1. § Ditto, Fig. 2. 
 

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TOE REMAINS AT PAGAN. 49 
 
 brick-work could scarcely be seen anywhere. The gates in the centre of each side are 
 however dilapidated. 
 
 Half a mile or more eastward of the Dhamayangyi is another remarkable temple called 
 the Sudha Munee. In construction it resembles the Thapinyu, but is smaller, and has never 
 been repaired in later times. The brick-work of the upper part is much dilapidated, as 
 much so nearly as that of Dhamayangyi. But that this temple was finished there can. 
 be no doubt. The plaster on the walls of a staircase leading to the upper terraces, at the 
 height of a man's shoulder, was rubbed and polished, as if by the passage of multitudes 
 during ages of occupancy. 
 
 I have not learned to what date this temple is attributed. No one of the remaining 
 structures gives so vivid an idea of what these buildings must have been in the brilliancy 
 of their original condition. The plaster-work of the pilasters and mouldings which remains 
 is of a highly florid and artistic character ; the battlemented crown of the parapet is set with 
 large tiles embossed and enamelled in colours ; the panels of the basement with smaller 
 tiles in the form of diamonds, rosettes, and other ornamental patterns; and in the 
 flamboyant rays and spires of the pediments even up to the highest remaining terraces the 
 tips were composed of pointed glazed white tiles, which must once have given an extraordi- 
 nary lustre and sparkling effect to the elevation, a good deal of which remains perceptible 
 even in the present decay. 
 
 The ground-plan is a single corridor, the vaults and walls of which have been originally 
 covered with tasteful diaper painting in bright colours. This remains visible on the soffit 
 of the arching, but the walls have been whitewashed over, and repainted in an inferior style 
 with life-size saints and Buddhas, and with a smaller series of the Jats, or pre-existences 
 of Gautama. 
 
 The plan of the upper story is rather more complicated than usual. There is a principal 
 image-chamber, with a well-lighted coi-ridor running all round it, but this inner chamber 
 has not been placed, as in the Thapinyu, centrically under the spire. 
 
 An inclosure wall surrounds the temple, equally remarkable with that of Dhamayangyi 
 for the beautiful finish of the brick-work. To the north of this there is a second court, 
 surrounded on three sides by a curious range of vaulted and now dilapidated cells. We 
 could not ascertain the object of these, whether for the residence of the religious order, 
 or for the accommodation of worshippers from a distance, or merely for the deposit of 
 images of Gautama. No traces at least of the latter remained. At one side there 
 was a small house-like building, apparently once two-storied, which may have been the 
 residence of the poongyi, or prior, if this was indeed a conventual establishment, as it 
 most probably was. There was also a small tank surrounded by brick steps. The whole 
 of this court appeared to be of later date than the temple inclosure, and of inferior 
 workmanship. 
 
 The Shwe Koo, or " Golden Cave," which an inscription, of which Mr. Crawfurd has 
 given a translation by Dr. Judson, assigns to about the year 1552, is a very elegant and 
 elaborately white building of no great size, and stands on an elevated terrace, within the 
 
 H 
 
50 
 
 THE REMAINS AT TAG AN. 
 
 city walls and near the Thapinyu. It is of the same general plan and church-like appear- 
 ance as the Gaudapalen, but with much concentrated ornament. The projecting vestibule 
 faces the north, which is unusual. In nearly all the other temples which are not absolutely 
 symmetrical on the four sides, the principal entrance is to the east. The interior is unusually 
 light and spacious in proportion to the area of the building. It is a square vaulted chamber, 
 in the centre of which rises a square mass of masonry supporting the spire, and on the four 
 sides exhibiting as many Gautamas. It contains several inscriptions ; two of them, in vci-y 
 clear and elegant square Burmese characters, being built into the wall, and covered with a 
 very hard black varnish so as perfectly to resemble black marble, though a knife forcibly 
 applied at the edge will show the sandstone beneath. 
 
 There are several other minor temples of interest near Thapinyu. A little to the south, 
 and outside the ramparts, stands the group of temples called Sem-byo-koo, to the beautiful 
 details of which I have several times referred. The most conspicuous of the ruins to the 
 westward of Thapinyu is marked by a very curious dome and spire of the Ceylon Dagoba 
 form, but both dome and spire being polygons of twelve sides. This building, from several 
 peculiarities of aspect, is suggestive of great antiquity. The internal vault, which is of 
 
 considerable height, 
 springs from the ground 
 on every side. In one 
 part of the entrance- 
 passage, which, in its 
 length through the thick 
 mass of brick-work, 
 exhibits various heights 
 and constructions, a 
 painted timber lintel 
 has been used, now in 
 utter decay. Another 
 part of the entrance 
 vault is a triangular 
 arch (see Plate IX. 
 Fig. 5), about nine or 
 ten feet in span, the 
 
 outer arch which defines the doorway being of the usual pointed form. This temple is 
 called Putdh-Budho-nya. 
 
 Between this and Thapinyu, an almost shapeless ruin, instead of an arched doorway, has 
 a massive stone lintel, now broken. This is noticed by Crawford as containing Hindoo 
 sculptures. The sculptures remain ; two inside, and several framed in panels on the exte- 
 rior. The figures have nearly all four arms, and have a very Hindoo character ; one of 
 them also in its action strongly resembles the usual Hindoo images of the Monkey-god 
 Hanuman, but the head is defaced. Major Phayre visited this temple in company with 
 
 Fig. 20. 
 
THE REMAINS AT PAGAN. 51 
 
 the Woondouk, and lias furnished a very interesting note on the subject which is given at 
 the end of this chapter.* 
 
 Some distance south of Sembyo Koo is Thein-ma-tiet, of a size considerably larger than 
 the common run of the Pagan temples, though still to be classed as small among giants 
 such as Thapinyu and Gaudapalen. It is very much on the model of the latter, and is 
 surrounded by a brick enclosure-wall containing remains of other buildings. It is full of 
 paintings of large figures. On the wall, against which the Gautama was placed, were some 
 sixteen personages depicted, which looked excessively like stiff old figures of the apostles on 
 painted glass. In this, or another temple near it, the whole corridor was diapered with 
 minute paintings of Gautama, about an inch and a half square. 
 
 Not far from this, the outside brick-work having partly fallen from a small solid conical 
 pagoda, it became manifest that it was a real brick-and-mortar palimpsest. It had been 
 actually built over another, and that other of highly finished construction, adorned with 
 beautiful moulded tiles, &c. f This building formed a sort of pair with another pagoda of 
 similar appearance, in front of a small temple of the church character, and the possible 
 object of the incrustation was to make it symmetrize in size with its neighbour. 
 
 In passing eastward from the pagoda just mentioned we arrived at the Shwe" San-dau, a 
 large and lofty pagoda of the Rangoon and Prome type, on a high pyramidal base, and 
 
 * Considering the very proximate derivation of the Buddhism of Burma from the Buddhism of 
 Ceylon, may not the following passage throw some light on the subject: — " The Malabar kings, who at 
 an early period had acquired the sovereignty of Ceylon, on the failure of the native dynasty, introduced 
 the worship of Vishnu and Shiva into the same temples with that of Buddha. The innovation has been 
 perpetuated, and to the present day the statues of these conflicting divinities are to be found within the 
 same buildings ; the Diwalas of Hindooism are erected within the same inclosures as the Wihares of the 
 Buddhists ; and the Kappoorales of the one religion officiate at the altars almost beneath the same roof 
 with the priests and neophytes of the other." — Sir J. Emerson Tennents Christianity in Ceylon, p. 222. 
 The same singular fact is mentioned by Mr. Hardy. (Eastern Monachism, p. 201.) 
 
 f This incrustation of a sacred building appears to be a common Buddhist practice. The great Shwe 
 Madua at Pegu is thus said to have been originally built by two merchants, shortly after the age of 
 Buddha, and to have been only one cubit high, raised by the same individuals to twelve. (Symes's 
 Embassy, p. 192.) 
 
 Speaking of a great Pagoda at Bintenne near Kandy, Mr. Fergusson writes : — " The Mahawanso, or 
 great Buddhist history of Ceylon, describes the mode by which this building was raised by successive 
 additions, in a manner so illustrative of the principle on which these relic-shrines arrived at completion, 
 that it is well worth quoting. ' The Thcro Sarabhu, at the demise of the Buddha receiving at his funeral 
 pile the thorax bone relic, brought and deposited it in that identical dagoba [in which a lock of Buddha's 
 hair had been previously placed]. This inspired personage causing a dagoba to bo erected twelve cubits 
 high, and enshrining it, thereon departed. The younger brother of king Devenampiatisso (b.c. 250), 
 discovering this marvellous dagoba constructed another encasing it, thirty cubits in height. King 
 Duttagamini (b.c. 161) while residing there, during his subjugation of the Malabars, constructed a 
 dagoba encasing that one eighty cubits in height. Thus was the Mahayangana dagoba completed. It is 
 possible that at each successive addition some new deposit was made ; at least most of the topes ex- 
 amined in Afghanistan and the Punjab show signs of these successive increments, and successive deposits, 
 one above the other.' " — Hand-book of Architecture, i. 9. 
 
 The same peculiarity is found in some of the Nubian pyramids, and in the Etrurian tombs. (Ibid. p. 
 291.) So also Captain Macleod mentions a very sacred pagoda at Laboung among the Siamese Laos, or 
 Slums, which was said to have received increments from seven successive kings. The first built it seven 
 cubits high, the next added seven cubits, and so on. It is now eighty feet high. 
 
52 
 
 THE liEMAINS AT TAGAN. 
 
 apparently once gilt. Near it, our attention was attracted by a long gabled house, lighted 
 by a few small windows with flat arches in brick of a peculiar construction (shown in 
 Plate IX. Fig. 4). Looking in, at a small arched doorway, we found the house to contain 
 a Brobdignagian figure of Gautama recumbent on his side. It was built apparently of brick 
 plastered. But a finger of the hand, from which the plaster had been knocked off, was seen 
 to be of sandstone gilt, as if some part at least of the colossus had belonged to a former 
 image of more splendid material.* The eyes were open, and the face, which was the best 
 part of the figure, wore the usual placid smile. The vault of the long chamber in which it 
 lay was painted, rudely enough, with overshadowing palm-trees. The recumbent giant 
 measured sixty-eight feet eleven inches in length, and his nose upwards of a yard. 
 
 On our mentioning this huge image after our return to the steamers, a party started 
 to visit it. They missed their way, but lighted on another, of similar character, but much 
 greater size ! This last, I think, was stated to be ninety feet long. These, however, are. 
 far exceeded in size by one which Sir John Bowring mentions in his book on Siam. 
 
 On the east side of the Shvve San-dau was a small cromlech, of unmistakable character 
 (Fig. 21), used as a depository table for offerings. It is the only thing of the kind I have 
 
 Fig.21. 
 
 i 
 heard of in the Burmese countries, and is perhaps an accidental construction, and no relic 
 
 of primeval customs. The whole of the ground about the base of Shwe San-dau on that 
 
 * These gigantic figures are probably direct imitations of what ancient Burman pilgrims had seen in 
 Ceylon. "At Dambool in that island," says Forbes (i. 370), "a chamber contains a gigantic and well- 
 executed figure of Buddha recumbent, and the statue, as well as the couch and pillow on which he re- 
 clines, is cut from the solid rock. This figure is forty-seven feet in length. The chamber is long, narrow 
 and dark ; Gautama Buddha's position and placid aspect, the stillness of the place, all tend to impress 
 the visitor with the feeling that he is in the chamber of death." The stature of Gautama Buddha was 
 twelve cubits. But Brahma, Sekra, and the other gods tried in vain to measure or compute his- dimen- 
 sions. (Hardy's Manual, p. 365.) Some such rude metaphor these large images are probably intended to 
 embody. The Chinese epithet of Buddha, Amito, is probably the corruption of a Pali or Sanscrit word, 
 signifying " the Immeasurable." 
 
TilE REMAINS AT PAGAN. 53 
 
 side was paved with similar masses of sandstone, and this may both have afforded the material 
 and suggested the erection. 
 
 So much of Pagan and its remains we saw, but a vast area of ruins remained unvisited 
 by any of the party, and doubtless much of interest has still to be examined. The 
 time which we spent at Pagan altogether was three days and a half in going up, and nearly 
 two days in coming down ; but as nearly one whole day was necessarily devoted to public 
 and private letter-writing, and another whole day was abstracted by an attack of fever, 1 
 should have come away with much less material for the illustration of these deeply inter- 
 esting remains, had it not been for the kind assistance of my friends Mr. Oldham, and 
 Lieutenant Heathcote, of the Indian Navy. 
 
 The plans and elevations of the buildings are, I believe, substantially accurate, though, 
 in making so many measurements, so hurriedly as these were of necessity made, there 
 were of course omissions, and some inconsistencies became evident in the laborious process 
 of compiling the drawings. 
 
 I conclude the chapter with a note of Major Phayre's on the Burmese habit of scrib- 
 bling on the walls of temples, instances of which abound at Pagan. * 
 
 Memorandum on the Pagoda at Pagan with Hindoo Images. 
 By Major Phayre. 
 
 There is a small ruined pagoda standing close to the Thapinyu temple, of the usual form of Buddhist 
 hollow pagodas. It has a stone frame to the doorway, which is unusual. This has been broken from 
 the imperfect construction of the brickwork above. On either side of the doorway are four niches in the 
 outer wall of the building. These are all vacant but one, in which is an erect stone figure about eighteen 
 inches high. It holds a lotus-bud in each hand, and has a pointed crown or cap on its head. There 
 are other niches on the side and back walls of the building, containing similar stone figures. These 
 appear to bo Indian in character, and one with a monkey face no doubt represents Hanuruan. Entering 
 the temple, the throne, on which an image had evidently once been placed, occupies as usual the centre 
 of the building. It is now vacant. There are also two empty places for upright images right and left of 
 the throne ; and above these are deep niches for smaller images, one of which is still occupied. 
 
 An image of either kind, standing and sitting, has been displaced from the original position, aud 
 these now lie on the ground in the temple. They are of stone. One of the standing figures has dis- 
 appeared altogether. 
 
 * " Had I thought of it sooner, I might have sent an amusing page or two on the Burmese habit of 
 scribbling upon walls. Brick walls white- washed are so uncommon, that when one is met with, the 
 people appear to cover every corner of it with figures drawn with charcoal, and written sentences. Their 
 habit in this respect is as inveterate as that of the English. Some of these writings are the mere names 
 of visitors to the temples, others are factious, a few of the grave order. The following are specimens, 
 copied from the Bauddhi Pagoda at Pagan : — 
 
 "'On the first day of the waning moon, Dengyot 121C [a.d. 1854], Nga Phyoo, Nga Kyen, and 
 Ko Byeon, three persons who live beneath the Golden feet, worshipped the images and pagodas at Pagan.' 
 
 " Here is another : — 
 
 '"Moung Kha aud his wife have worshipped and presented offerings at all the Pagodas— applaud ! 
 applaud ! ' " 
 
54 THE REMAINS AT PAGAN. 
 
 That which has come from the smaller niche above is a seated figure with the legs crossed, some- 
 what in the Buddha attitude. The figure has four arms, long pendent ears, and a high cap or crown on 
 the head. The two left arms hold a conch shell and a mallet (?) ; the upper right hand has a tsel;* or 
 discus ; the other hand is broken. The figure is supported by a ga-loon,* or bird with a man's head. 
 This is evidently an image of Vishnoo. 
 
 The standing figure is about four feet high, and was pronounced by the Woondouk who accompanied 
 me, to represent the same person as the sitting figure. This, however, is an error. It also has four 
 arms ; in the two right hands are placed a sword and a trident (supposed by the Burmese to be a 
 lotus-bud). In the left hands are a club and a mallet. The imago is much disfigured, but its Indian 
 anklets are visible, and beneath the feet is an animal half broken away, but which probably represents 
 a bull. The image, no doubt, is that of Siva. 
 
 The figure up in the niche was too much concealed by the gloom to be minutely observed. It was 
 apparently riding on a bird. 
 
 The Woondouk considered the standing and the seated figures above described as being images of 
 " Parameethwa, a Nat worshipped by Brahmins,"f and that they, as well as some standing figures of 
 plaster round the centre throne, had been introduced as subordinate guardian N&ts, in honour of 
 Buddha's image which once occupied the central place. This image was no doubt of plaster, and has 
 decayed by time. 
 
 This view of the fact of Hindoo deities being introduced into a Buddhist temple is quite consistent 
 with the practice of the present day in Burma. At the Shw6 Zeegoon temple in Pagan, which attracts 
 more worshippers than any other, there are in the inclosure figures of Nats, to which the people make 
 offering, in the very presence of Buddha's images, though such is contrary to the tenets of strict 
 Buddhism. 
 
 That these stone figures were, as supposed by Crawfurd, the principal objects of worship in the 
 small temple where they are found, I see no reason for considering probable. I rather think with the 
 Woondouk, that they were simply guardian N&ts around the Buddha, to whose memory the temple has 
 been erected. The Woondouk added, however, that these images may have been put into the temple to 
 attract Brahminical worshippers, which, as from indications elsewhere Indian workmen have apparently 
 been employed on the Pagan temples and sculptures, is not improbable. 
 
 * The ehakr and gar&r are both emblems of Vishnu. (Y.) 
 
 t Parmeshwar — a name applied, I believe, to Siva. (P.) Parameswaru, " the supreme lord," may 
 be applied to either of the three principal Hindu deities, accordingly as each is considered to be the 
 most eminent by his respective votaries ; it is more especially a denomination of the Supreme 
 Being. (W.) 
 
CHAPTER III. 
 
 JOURNAL FBOM TAGAN TO TITE CAPITAL. 
 
 Leave Pagan — Nyoung-oo — Caves and Tunnel — Great Width of River — Long Villages — Koon-yuwa — 
 Large Town of Meen-gyan — Puppet-play — the Kycndwen — Inundation — Yan-da-bo — Samaikgon 
 (Sumei-kioum) — Saltpetre Manufacture — Kyouk-ta-loung — Wait for Deputation from Court — Vil- 
 lages and Country about Kyouk-ta-loung — Start and meet Deputation — Ensuing Dialogue — Messrs. 
 Spears and Camaretta — Arrival at Sagain — Former Method of providing for the Charges of a Foreign 
 Mission by a Tax on Outcasts — Summary Punishment — Town of Sagain — Traces of Earthquake — 
 Glorious View from a Pagoda— Visit to Koung-moo-dau Pagoda — Marble-Cutters and Paper-Makers 
 — Parabeiks, or Quasi-Slates — the Pagoda — Fine Inscribed Slab — Visit from Chief Woongyeo 
 (Magwe Mengyee) — Cosmical Controversies — Refections from the Palace — Singular Sweetmeat — 
 Talk about a Treaty — Excursion to the Sagain Hills and their Numerous Edifices — Burmese Skill in 
 representing the Elephant — the Tsalwe, or Chain of Nobility — Proceed (1st September) from Sagain 
 by the Myit-nge, or Little River, to the Residency — Burmese Militia — Singular Cavalry Equipments 
 — Description of our Dwelling — Artificial Trees with Edible Fruit — Theatricals — Royal Water-jars 
 — Distance from the Vessels. 
 
 On the morning of the 24th August we left Pagan with regret. Near the northern 
 extremity of the remains is the gilt pagoda of Shwe-Zeegoong, a favourite resort of 
 worshippers, and hard by, the large and busy village of Nyoung-oo. This is the chief seat 
 of the manufactory of the lacquered ware, of which a large quantity is exported upwards to 
 the capital and downwards to Prome and Rangoon. Boats of all sorts and sizes lined the 
 shore here for nearly a mile. 
 
 Above Nyoung-oo the sandstone cliffs again appear, rising boldly from the water to a 
 height sometimes of 130 feet or more, and broken by frequent inlets. The waters, now at 
 their highest level, filled the winding gorges, and above their woody banks rose groups of 
 the ancient temples, affording many beautiful pictures, of which our hurried passage 
 allowed us to bring away no record. In one projecting ridge of sandstone there was a 
 tunnel, apparently natural, through the wall of rock, admitting the passage of a rude 
 staircase descending from the village behind. Close to this, in the soft sandstone cliff over- 
 looking the river, were five caves. The entrances were partially bricked up, so as to 
 reduce the passage to a small doorway ; arid people, who stood along the ledge in front, 
 appeared to inhabit them. 
 
 All the eastern shore, for many miles above this, is beautifully wooded, and thickly set 
 with palm-groves, interspersed with occasional pagodas, and with villages surrounded by 
 hedged fields of pleasant aspect. The land rises behind in a long general slope, broken by 
 ravines towards the lower ground that fringes the river, but more clothed with wood or 
 
50 JOURNAL FROM FAGAN TO TIIE CAPITAL. 
 
 brushwood than the country farther south, though still apparently unproductive. Paopa- 
 doung was now more conspicuous than ever, but his head almost continually wrapt in 
 cloud. The river was immensely wide, scarcely less than five miles in places, but much of 
 this appeared to be a shallow spread of inundation. Many islands, with houses on them, 
 stood in the middle of the present water-way, just emerging from the surface and no more ; 
 whilst other small villages, or groups of cottages, rose on their stilts directly out of the 
 waters, with no visible land beneath them at all. 
 
 On the west, the country had much the same character as on the east, numerous long 
 straggling villages edging the water-line. One continuous town, under the names of 
 Mee-en-tha and Pako-ko, seemed to stretch for three or four miles. Some miles from the 
 river two or three isolated hills rose out of the nearly level surface. 
 
 Striking across towards the western shore, we approached the large village of Koon- 
 yuwa, marked by conspicuous temples and two gigantic griffin-lions. The shore was lined 
 with magnificent trees, their large boles surrounded by the risen stream, which now washed 
 almost the floors of the cottages. The stooping branches laden with thick foliage, the 
 numerous cottages buried in the trees, and the small pagoda-spires here and there visible 
 rising through the further groves, presented a succession of beautiful pictures. 
 
 We anchored almost among the lofty stems of a palmyra grove, which the waters had 
 inundated, and immediately landing, were met by our friend the Woondouk, accompanied 
 by the Myo-Woon of this district of Pakhan ; and with them we took a walk through 
 the town. 
 
 It is of considerable size, containing probably not less than 1000 or 1200 houses, and 
 the immediately adjoining country seems peopled and productive. Running behind the 
 town, and parallel to the river, we found a very capital, wide, and well-ordered road. I 
 have before noticed the civilized appearance of the outskirts of a Burman town, bestowed 
 by the defined cart-roads and fences. The people were somewhat boorish ; but we 
 have never experienced any positive incivility. 
 
 Pakhan, the head-quarters of the Governor, is said to be about ten miles inland, near 
 one of the isolated hills mentioned above, and to be a rich and handsome town with fine 
 pagodas. 
 
 To-day the Woondouk asked the Envoy if the scientific professors had discovered 
 anything yet. Had they been successful ? Had they found traces of gold and silver ? 
 
 25th August. — There was little of interest to-day in our run of fifteen or sixteen miles 
 to Meen-gyan. The width of the apparent river was excessive, and it was difficult to guess 
 where the proper channel lay. Much was evidently superficial inundation. Not only 
 were long grassy meadows converted into plashy islands, but many villages were seen 
 rising directly out of the waters far from the apparent shore. 
 
 Approaching Meen-gyan, we were met by the governor of the Taroup-myo* district, 
 with eleven war-boats. The arms of the crew, dhas and muskets of various kinds, were 
 erected on regular arm-racks amidships in each boat. The number of muskets displayed 
 was estimated at about 300. 
 
 * "Chinese Town." 
 
JOURNAL FROM PAGAN TO THK CAPITAL. 57 
 
 The town is a large one, and presented by far the most busy and evidently numerous 
 population that we had yet seen. It lies very low, just above the water-level at its greatest 
 height, as it now was, and without an inch to spare. The streets were full of business and 
 bustle, rice-cleaning and the like. The place is a great mart for rice both from Pegu and 
 from the adjoining low lands, and many large boats of 50 and even 100 tons burden were 
 lying alongside to load or discharge. Some were taking away cotton for the Chinese 
 market. What we saw was uncleaned, and of very short staple. 
 
 The people crowded in thousands to see the vessels, staring in at the windows, and 
 putting their questions or cutting their jokes on what they saw going on in the way of 
 toilette operations, &c, without ceremony. 
 
 In the evening we attended a puppet-play, the best we had yet seen as to manipulation 
 and general getting up. The drama was a sort of mystery or morality on the story of the 
 youth of Gautama, his communication of his resolution to adopt the ascetic life, and the 
 dissuasions of his father's courtiers. These latter introduced successive fair damsels of the 
 court, that their attractions might shake his resolution ; and the humorous running com- 
 mentary made by the old foster-father of the Buddha, who sat among the courtiers, 
 produced hearty peals of laughter among the Burman audience. The Envoy conceived 
 that these jocular dialogues in connexion with a personage so sacred could never have 
 been written down. They must have depended on their extemporaneous character for 
 apology. 
 
 26th. — The river continued still of great width, and abounded in low and partly 
 inundated islands. The shores were populous and finely wooded, the day was calm and 
 sultry, and the half-flooded villages and trees were beautifully reflected in the smooth 
 waters. Whole villages were passed with the water spreading beneath the houses, and 
 with their carts hung up to the trees to prevent their being floated off by the current. 
 Even small pagodas were seen half immersed. On the westward, the landscape showed 
 now a dead alluvial flat, with abounding palm-groves. On the other shore, the alluvial 
 tract was limited. A higher plain, or slightly rolling country, rose behind ; and about 
 eight miles inland was seen a short range of hills, like those near Pagan and Seeng-goo. 
 At Meen-gyan there was, about five miles from the town, a remarkable pair of twin hills, 
 rising to a height of 900 or 1000 feet. 
 
 It was scarcely possible in the existing state of the river, brimming over as it was 
 among the trees and meadows on both sides, to distinguish exactly the accession of the 
 Kyendwen,* though a tract of inundation running northerly, opposite the pagodas of 
 of Taroup-myo, marked the position of some of the inlets at this season. At the junction 
 of one of the more defined channels, a little model of a kyoung, or monastery, was set on 
 four poles near the point of confluence. This, we were told, was a house erected to pro- 
 pitiate a Nat, who hovered about here, and vexed the boatmen as they passed. Above the 
 
 * "We had passed the principal mouth of the Kyendwen the preceding day, but the Irawadi was there 
 so wide and ill-defined that the tributary channel was not distinguishable. The island, or small delta, 
 enclosed by the mouths of the Kyendwen is called Ale-gyoon (" Middle Island "), and contains a good 
 number of villages. 
 
 I 
 
58 JOURNAL FROM PAGAN TO THE CAPITAL 
 
 Kyendwen's junction, the body of water sensibly diminished, and the amount of 
 sediment also. The water was clearer and purer. 
 
 Among the villages passed to-day was Yan-da-bo, the turning-point of the British army 
 in 1826, and which gave its name to the treaty of peace. It is now, as at the time of 
 Crawfurd's visit, marked by huge piles of earthen pots, which are here made in great 
 numbers. The village is a poor one, and not populous. We anchored at Samaik-gon (or 
 Sumei-kioum of the maps), after a voyage of about twenty-two miles. 
 
 This is a considerable village on the slightly elevated bank of the river and just above 
 the flood level. An expanse of inundation separates it from the higher land behind, and a 
 creek runs through the middle of the village. One of those very long bridges, so charac- 
 teristic of Burma, crosses the inundation in rear. 
 
 27th. — At Samaik-gon a considerable amount of saltpetre is made. Major Allan and 
 Mr. Oldham visited the scene of the manufacture this morning. 
 
 As in Upper India, it is derived from the ordinary soil of the country. This is scraped 
 off to a depth of about six inches during the dry weather and stored. When the manu- 
 facture is about to be commenced, conical baskets are provided, which are mounted on 
 wooden frames, and lined with a coating of clay. Into these the loose earth is now put, and 
 covered with a layer of rice husks; water is then poured in, and allowed to trickle 
 through. The water takes up the salt, and carries it in solution into an earthen pot below. 
 The same water is a second time filtered through the same earth, and is then removed to 
 be boiled down. 
 
 The boiling is performed in broad, shallow, cast-iron pans of Chinese manufacture, 
 which are raised from the ground just enough to permit a small fire to be kindled 
 underneath. In these the brine is evaporated, the salt crystallizing on the sides of the 
 vessel, and being removed thence by a stick. One boiling is completed in twenty-four 
 hours. Each iron pan receives about three of the earthen pots full of brine, and yields 
 three viss of the impure saltpetre, which is again dissolved in pure water, and, by a second 
 boiling of the same duration, is reduced to half the amount of pure white saltpetre. The 
 salt first obtained is very impure, red, and earthy. The iron pans used are said to cost 
 only three tikals per pair. The clean saltpetre sells for between fifteen and twenty tikals 
 per hundred viss. The annual product was stated to Major Allan at 20,000 viss, but this 
 appears a very low estimate. 
 
 The use of the layer of rice-husks was said to be to clear the water of its suspended 
 mud, so as to allow pure water only to reach the earth containing the salt. The greater 
 part of the saltpetre goes to the capital for the king's service. But there is no ostensible 
 restriction on the sale here, though if any attempt were made to sell a large quantity for 
 exportation down the river, it would be immediately stopped. What does not go to the 
 capital is chiefly sold for the manufacture of fireworks, in which the Burmese excel. , 
 
 Our day's journey extended to Kyouk-ta-loung, a distance of twenty-eight miles. 
 
 The country was still extensively inundated, so that the limits of the true river-channel 
 were not discernible. The shores were fringed almost continuously with rich wood, 
 embosoming numerous villages and pagoda spires. On our right (the left bank of the 
 
JOURNAL FROM PAGAN TO THE CAPITAL. 59 
 
 Irawadi) the inundation was limited at a short distance by the rise of the country, in a 
 long slope of slightly undulating ground. Even this, however, seemed to he partially 
 fenced and cultivated ; and on the river-side, as we drew near Kyouk-ta-loung, there were 
 beautiful quickset hedges. An extreme richness and variety of vegetation overhung the 
 river at Kyouk-ta-loung ; even the cocoa-nut, lately a stranger, was again found here. 
 
 At Kyouk-ta-loung, which is nineteen miles below Amarapoora, there is a chokee or 
 guardhouse, the frontier, as it were, of the capital. It is the place at which customs on 
 goods entering the capital used formerly to be levied. They are now taken at a place near 
 the city. The mass of trees, tamarinds especially, which overshadowed the village, rendered 
 it impossible to judge correctly of its size ; but it did not- appear to be a place of any con- 
 siderable extent. The number of cattle penned in the compounds round the houses was 
 great, and numerous hedged lanes led through the place in all directions, giving it an 
 aspect very different from that of an Indian village. 
 
 There was no pu6 to-day, this being the full moon, and a worship day. This did not, 
 however, prevent the exhibition of a pair of vigorous dancers (male and female) beneath 
 the trees at the landing-place. The performance seemed very much like an Irish jig, in 
 step and music, the pair setting to one another every now and then more Celtico. In the 
 afternoon it was announced that a deputation from the court would be down next morning 
 to meet us, and escort us to Sagain. 
 
 2Sth August. — We remained lying at Kyouk-ta-loung waiting for the promised deputa- 
 tion, but no news of them, and no message from the capital arrived. We had to wait for 
 fuel also, as no store had been provided here. 
 
 In the morning I went over the river with some companions to the village opposite us, 
 Yuwa-theit-gyee (" New-town Magna "). It shows from the river cottages and numerous 
 pagodas nestled among fine trees, but we had no conception of its extent till we actually 
 explored it ; so completely did the thick foliage (of tamarinds mainly) disguise its extent 
 The place must contain 700 or 800 houses at least, and among the inhabitants are many 
 Mussulmans and Munnipoorees.* The village is traversed in all directions by hedged 
 lanes, with gates at intervals ; the lanes appearing to have been well swept 
 
 We visited a small but handsome gilt pagoda, with a large flat-roofed brick building in 
 front, used probably as a zaydt, or rest-house for worshippers, and tabernacle for the 
 preaching of the priests. The sides were arcaded with ornamental arches, but above these 
 were solid wooden lintels, as if the architects nowadays mistrusted the sufficiency of their 
 arches. 
 
 In another building was a painted chamber resembling that described above, near the 
 Ananda at Pagan. A lower series represented the tortures of Tartarus, beasts, and birds, 
 and demons devouring and hewing in pieces the miserable. A white figure in a chariot 
 appeared to be travelling through these gloomy regions as a spectator, like the pious 
 iEneas. One of the people told us that it represented a prince who was permitted to 
 
 * During the wars of Alompra ami his successors, many thousands of the people of Munnipoor, on 
 the north-west of Burma, were deported, and located iu the villages round Ava. 
 
60 JOURNAL FROM PAGAN TO THE CAPITAL. 
 
 traverse the other worlds, and came back to devote himself to a religious life. These 
 paintings, however, generally represent the pre-existences of Gautama, as a Bodhisat, or 
 candidate for the Buddhahood,* and Major Phayre doubted if the description given would 
 apply to any of these. Among the scenes in the upper series of paintings, soldiers with 
 muskets and bayonets appeared. 
 
 These paintings are all sufficiently rude, but still they had much more of life and spirit 
 than Hindoo paintings usually have. We never saw paintings in Burmese temples of the 
 licentious character which Bowring says is common in those of Siam. 
 
 At the upper end of the village we observed one pagoda, shaped exactly like a diving- 
 bell, with a Idee, but no spire. This is an unusual form in Burma, though it is the old and 
 genuine Indian pattern, exhibited in the remains which dot the mountains of Cabul. 
 
 Behind Kyouk-ta-loung is a low, undulating tract, scarcely to be called hilly. The 
 whole country inland, as seen from the higher points, was arid, parched, and barren, the 
 sandy, dry, and yellow soil peeping out everywhere, and scarcely hidden by the stunted 
 and half-grown brushwood which sparsely clothed it Many cart-roads, however, traversed 
 the summits, and were in good order, the natural drainage being favourable. The plough 
 was busy in the hollows preparing the rice-crop. This, with sesamum, a little cotton, and 
 red pepper, was the chief cultivation. Along the higher ground not a tree was to be seen 
 higher than a man. This country must be inconceivably barren in the dry season. 
 
 29th August. — This morning there was still no intelligence from Ava, and the Envoy 
 announced his determination to start at eight o'clock. The Woondouk was very anxious 
 to keep us till evening, quoting the detention of their envoys last winter for five weeks at 
 Rangoon, f He did not appear to believe Major Phayre's announcement of his intended 
 departure, and did not stir till we had actually got under way. 
 
 However, a few miles above Kyouk-ta-loung, we were met by a great fleet of war- 
 boats, many of them gilt, and a deputation came on board. The chief of the party was the 
 Nan-ma-dau Woon, or Governor of the Queen's Palace, a respectable and well-meaning 
 old man, who had been well known at the beginning of the war as the Governor of Dalla,J 
 and who had been the head of the Burmese mission to Calcutta. The old man wore a long 
 surcoat of book muslin (the usual half-dress of Burmese courtiers) with a tsal-wd, or chain 
 of twelve golden cords, over his shoulder. He looked more like a gentleman than any 
 official whom we had yet met. His own boat was a splendid specimen of the hung, with 
 fifty-six rowers. 
 
 The whole scene was highly imposing. The fleet of boats divided into two great 
 squadrons, one passing along the western bank, the other waiting on the eastern bank 
 higher up the river till we came abreast. The steamers proceeded slowly till the arrange- 
 
 * So, in Ceylon, the walls of the sacred buildings are often covered with paintings. " The style at 
 present adopted in Ceylon greatly resembling in its general appearance that which is presented in the 
 tombs and temples of Egypt. The story most commonly illustrates some passage in the life of Buddha, 
 or in the births he received as a Bodhisat." — Hardy's Eastern Monachism, p. 200. 
 
 f This was owing to certain improper expressions in the king's letter to the Governor-General, which 
 rendered a rcferenco back to Amarapoora necessary. 
 
 I The district at the mouth of the Rangoon River. 
 
JOURNAL FROM PAGAN TO TIIE CAriTAL. 61 
 
 ments were complete. On the eastern or left bank of the river 150 boats were counted, 
 many of them having fifty rowers, others not more than ten or twelve, thirty perhaps being 
 the average. Supposing there were as many in the other squadron this would give nearly 
 9000 men, which is perhaps not much above the truth. 
 
 All these accompanied the regatta with their usual chants and music. 
 
 The Nan-ma-dau Woon was very friendly, saying he had never ceased since he left 
 Bengal to offer up prayers for the Governor-General, that he might be saved from all evil 
 and blessed with all good. It appeared that they had not expected us to reach Sagain 
 until the next day. We had, therefore, anticipated their arrangements. The Woondouk, 
 good-humouredly, though evidently somewhat annoyed, said, " Yes, the Envoy has broken 
 his word, and upset all the arrangements." 
 
 Envoy. — " How have I broken my word?" 
 
 Woondouk. — " You promised to remain at Kyouk-ta-loung two days." 
 
 E. — " I certainly said in general terms that I would remain at Kyouk-ta-loung for a 
 day or two, and I did remain nearly half of the 27th, the whole of the 28th, and till eight 
 o'clock on the 29th. Is that not sufficient to satisfy you?" 
 
 W. (Laughing and shaking his head.) — " No, my mind cannot be satisfied." 
 
 E. — " The fact is, I had full confidence in the Nan-ma-dau Phra* Woon's arrange- 
 ments, and knew we should meet him, so I left. You, it is evident, had not faith in him, 
 and now you put the blame on me." 
 
 W. — " You say that, now that it has turned out well and we have met him." 
 
 Mr. Spears, a British merchant, long resident at Amarapoora, and to whom the 
 members of the mission were afterwards indebted for many attentions, also came on board, 
 accompanied by Mr. Antonio Camaretta, a Goa Portuguese, who has long been a con- 
 fidential servant of the Burmese Government, and now holds the offices of Collector of 
 Customs at the capital, and of one of the assistant-treasurers to the King, in which capacity 
 he has charge of the King's wardrobe and is nearly all day at the palace. He was ap- 
 pointed to provide for the mission in the capacity of what would be called in western Asia 
 Mihmanddr. , \ 
 
 * This epithet Phra, which occupies so prominent a place in the ceremonial and religious vocabulary 
 of both the Siamese and the Burmese, has been the subject of a good deal of nonsense. It is unfortu- 
 nate that our Burmese scholars have never (I believe) been Sanscrit scholars, nor vice versa, so that the 
 Palee terms used in Burma have had little elucidation. On the word in question Professor H. H. Wilson 
 has kindly favoured me with a note : " Phrd is no doubt a corruption of the Sanscrit Prabhu, a Lord or 
 Master. The h of the aspirate bh is often retained alone, leaving Prahu, which becomes Prdh or Phra." 
 
 ■f The expenses of provision for the mission, he pointedly assured the Envoy, would be defrayed from 
 the King's treasury. This declaration, it is believed, was made at the express desire of his Majesty. It 
 appears to have been the custom of the Burmese Government, from time immemorial, to defray the 
 expense of provisions supplied to foreign embassies by a rate levied on the outcasts of society, such as 
 lepers and dead-body burners. This course is believed to have been pursued heretofore towards every 
 mission whether British or Chinese, and was probably adopted by way of evincing to their own subjects 
 a secret contempt for foreigners of all countries. The voluntary abandonment of such a barbarism speaks 
 well for the King. He must have strong moral courage as well as an amiable desire to do right, thus to 
 relinquish a custom which by the Burmese nobility has hitherto, doubtless, been regarded as the legiti- 
 
62 JOURNAL FROM PAGAN TO THE CAHTAL. 
 
 • 
 
 We passed slowly up ; the fine mountains beyond the capital appearing now in front, 
 now on our left, and now on our right, as we followed the windings of the stream. On 
 the right bank conspicuously towered the huge dome of the Khoung-moo-dau Pagoda, one 
 of the greatest masses of brickwork in the country. 
 
 A few miles above Kyouk-ta-loung, the high ground, which at that place comes close 
 to the Irawadi, retires, leaving the alluvial valley, of considerable width, and now partially 
 inundated over a large expense. In front of this inundated plain a dense mass of wood 
 marked the position of old Ava. A few white spires rose above the trees, and, as we drew 
 nearer, the grass-grown ramparts of the town were visible, with many monastic timber 
 buildings, and minor pagodas, in decay. The site of the Residency, where Col. Burney 
 spent so many years, has been eaten away by the river. 
 
 On the other bank, as we advanced, the barren pagoda-crowned hills of Sagain ap- 
 proached the river, gradually contracting the level ground on that side, till opposite Ama- 
 rapoora they rose almost directly from the water. 
 
 We anchored at Sagain, just opposite Old Ava, where a reception-house had been pre- 
 pared. Here Padre Abbona, a Sardinian priest, of whom we afterwards saw a good deal, 
 came to visit the Envoy. A play, of course, commenced as soon as we arrived. 
 
 We had been much amused on the way up by the coxswain of the royal war-boat 
 which brought the old Woon, and who came on board with the latter. He was an 
 immensely big and fat, coarse-looking fellow, who strutted about and elbowed his way 
 among gentle and simple, in all the conscious self-importance of an enormous stomach 
 and of a bran-new and resplendent putso ; but his pride had a fall, and we had a curious 
 illustration of how they " manage these things in Burma." In preparing to anchor, some 
 of the war-boats, which he ought to have been looking after, were in the way. One of the 
 chiefs uttered something, and straightway two of the naked lictors, who attend and precede 
 every great man, distinguished by long stout rattans and red-lacquered bell hats,* darted 
 forward, seized the infelix Palinurus, who had just landed, by the top-knot, and rolled 
 him over, not uncuffed, among the loose piles of bricks in rear of the reception- 
 house. 
 
 In the evening we explored the town and its environs. The city of Sagain, more 
 than once for a time the metropolis of the kingdom, is of large extent, and is enclosed 
 by a massive, decaying, brick rampart. The interior space is now only very sparsely 
 occupied by houses buried in dark groves of very noble tamarind-trees. A large tank 
 or inundated hollow also exists within the walls. 
 
 The shops showed little of interest. Clay pipes of chibouque form, small earthen- 
 ware trays, with cups on them, apparently intended as children's toys, and a few other 
 
 mate method of announcing, without incurring the penalty due to insolence, the superiority of their king 
 and race over all others in the world. (Major Phayre.) 
 
 It should be noted, however, that Colonel Henry Burney, whilst resident at Ava, persuaded the minister 
 to abolish, in his own case, the custom of providing an envoy and his suite with supplies, — a change to 
 which he attached considerable importance. 
 
 * These men are usually convicted felons. 
 
•J 
 
 < 
 
 I 
 X 
 
 t/1 
 
 a 
 
 h 
 O 
 
JOURNAL FROM PAGAN TO THE CAHTAL. 63 
 
 articles of pottery, were the only additions that we noticed to the vegetables, fish, and 
 lead (for small change), which form the usual staples of a Burman bazaar. 
 
 The wooded lanes outside the town had, in places, a very English look, which at 
 once evaporated in the presence of an intruding cactus-hedge. Here and there, by the 
 wayside, were sheds containing water-jars for the refreshment of weary travellers; the 
 maintenance of which is the meritorious act of devout Buddhists.* 
 
 We examined several pagodas near the town, most of which had been ruined by 
 the great earthquake of 1839, but otherwise were of little interest. Passing on, among 
 numerous lime-kilns, which are fed from the rugged face of the hills behind the town, 
 we reached a half-detached conical promontory of the range rising over the river-bank 
 towards Amarapoora, on the summit of which stood a pagoda called by a name sig- 
 nifying " The King's Victory." The hill was ascended by a very steep and fatiguing 
 staircase of 275 steps, reminding one of the ascent to the Temple of Fame in the 
 frontispieces of school-books of the last age. The pagoda at the top had nothing very 
 remarkable, unless in the grotesque figures of Nats, in both marble and plaster, which 
 were numerous on the terrace. One of these was very ludicrous, representing a Nat 
 female suckling a Nat infant ! The usual leo-gryphs had all claws and eyeballs of white 
 marble. 
 
 But the view from the platform would have repaid a much more fatiguing ascent 
 than this. The scene was one to be registered in the memory with some half-dozen 
 others which cannot be forgotten. Nothing on the Rhine could be compared to it. At 
 the point where the temple stood, the Irawadi forms a great elbow, almost indeed 
 a right angle, coming down to us from the north, but here diverted to the west. 
 Northward the wide river stretched, embracing innumerable islands, till seemingly hemmed 
 in and lost among the mountains. Behind us, curving rapidly round the point on 
 which we stood, it passed away to the westward, and was lost in the blaze of a dazzling 
 sunset. Northwestward ran the little barren, broken ridges of Sagain, every point and 
 spur of which was marked by some monastic building or pagoda. Nearly opposite to 
 us lay Amarapoora, with just enough haze upon its temples and towers to lend them all the 
 magic of an Italian city. A great bell-shaped spire, rising faintly white in the middle 
 of the town, might well pass for a great Duomo. You could not discern that the domes 
 and spires were those of dead heathen masses of brickwork, and that the body of the 
 city was bamboo and thatch. It might have been Venice, it looked so beautiful. Behind 
 it rose range after range of mountains robed in blue enchantment. Between our 
 station and the river was only a narrow strip of intense green foliage, mingled with 
 white temples, spires, and cottage roofs. The great elbow of the river below us, mirroring 
 the shadows of the wood on its banks, and the glowing clouds above, had been like 
 a lake, were it not that the downward drift of the war-boats, as they crossed and re-crossed, 
 marked so distinctly the rapidity of the kingly stream. The high bank of the river, 
 opposite Sagain eastward, was seen to be a long belt of island covered with glorious 
 
 * Sec Plate XIII. 
 
64 JOURNAL FROM TAGAN TO THE CAriTAL. 
 
 foliage (and there are no trees like those of Burma) ; only here and there rose an 
 unwooded crest, crowned with its Cybeleian coronet of towers. Behind this were 
 numerous other wooded islands, or isolated villages, and temples, and monasteries, 
 rising directly out of the flood waters. Southward, across the river, was the old city of 
 Ava, now a thicket of tangled gardens and jungle, but marked by the remaining spires 
 of temples. On this side lay Sagain quite buried in a rich mass of tamarind-trees. 
 
 A great deal of the beauty of the scene was, doubtless, due to the singularly fine 
 atmosphere of the evening. But our impression was that the Lake of Como could not be 
 finer, and those who had seen Como said that'it was not. 
 
 Our description incited the Envoy and others to visit the temple next day. Seeing 
 the whole in the hard light of the late morning sun, they set us down, I doubt not, as 
 guilty of ridiculous exaggeration. 
 
 30th August. — This morning I went in company with Captain Rennie and Mr. Edwards 
 to see the great Khoung-moo-dau-phya, which had been so conspicuous on our left as 
 we ascended from Kyouk-ta-loung yesterday. 
 
 The distance was about six miles, generally through pleasant wooded lanes, with 
 numerous villages and clusters of temples. These villages appear to be occupied specially 
 by different crafts. One was a village of paper-makers, one of smiths, and one of marble- 
 cutters. The latter were not at work. They make innumerable Gautamas in different 
 attitudes for sale, out of the beautiful white marble, which comes from a place (which 
 I afterwards visited with Mr. Oldham) about twenty miles to the northward. To this 
 marble they give an extraordinary perfection of polish, using for the purpose a paste of 
 pulverized fossil wood. A squatted Gautama, three and a half feet high, and very 
 highly polished, was priced at 100 rupees. A small standing figure, about eighteen inches 
 high, and picked out with gilding, cost nine rupees. 
 
 Paper-making here is a very rude process. The frame is stretched with the common 
 close woven cotton cloth of the country, bordered with wooden ledges to confine the pulp. 
 This is placed in a shallow trough, the pulp being then poured in, spread over the frame, 
 and rolled with a bamboo. It is then lifted slowly and drained, but the sheet cannot be 
 removed at once, as it is even in the rude Bengalee process. The frame is set for some 
 time to dry in the sun before this is attempted. The material is the fibre of green bamboos. 
 This is macerated in small tanks for some weeks, and then pounded into a coarse pulp. 
 The bamboos which we saw in maceration appeared to have been about an inch and 
 a quarter in diameter, and were split into shavings about one-eighth of an inch in 
 thickness. 
 
 The resulting paper is soft, but tough, fibrous, and of unequal thickness, only fit for 
 
 packing purposes. I am not sure that this is the same paper which, agglutinated into a 
 
 sort of pasteboard and covered with a charcoal paste, is doubled into note-books, under 
 
 the name parabeiks, and written on with a steatite pencil.* In this form it resembles our 
 
 . 
 
 * This paper is said by Mr. Mason, in his Nat. Prod, of Burma, to be made from the bark of a species 
 of Daphne 
 
JOUHNAI. l'HOM PAGAN TO THE CAPITA!. 
 
 Go 
 
 scliool slates rather than writing-paper, the writing being easily obliterated. Yet this was 
 almost the only form in which district records appeared to have been kept in Pegu, when 
 the province fell into our hands.* Writing-paper, properly so called, is not made at all in 
 Burma. Books are written with a style on palm-leaves, as in Ceylon; and for the few 
 letters that are written in ink, English or Chinese paper is made use of. 
 
 The Phya, or Pagoda, which we went to see, well deserves a visit, though in antiquity 
 and architectural character it is far inferior to the temples of Pagan. Standing imme- 
 diately on the bank which rises from the alluvial valley, it is an enormous solid dome, with 
 a massive htee, but no spire, raised on three circular terraces or bases. The mass of the 
 dome is about 100 feet in diameter, and not less, I should suppose, than the corresponding part 
 of the great Shwe Dagon at Rangoon. The bases still retain traces of gilding, and, probably, 
 at one time the whole enormous mass was gilt. The lower basement is surrounded with 
 niches containing Gautamas, 240 in all. The whole rises from a plinth about a foot high, 
 and at the edge of this runs round a ring-fence of moulded stone posts, each having the cap 
 hollowed out, apparently to hold a lamp. Of these posts, standing about six feet out of the 
 ground and eight inches in diameter, there are 196 in each quadrant, or 784 in all; and 
 when the light from these was thrown inward on the gilded circumference of the temple the 
 effect must have been very grand. 
 
 Fig. 22. Khoung-moo-dau Pagoda. 
 
 This stone fence, I doubt not, is the lineal representative of the remarkable " Buddhist 
 railing," described by Major Cunningham as surrounding the ancient topes of Bhilsa. It 
 has also, perhaps, its parallel in the forest of taller columns, which surrounds some of the 
 
 * The Siamese also very commonly use this manner of writing. (Be la Loubhre's Hist. Relation ; 
 Eng. Trans, p. 12.) 
 
66 JOURNAL FROM PAGAN TO THE CAriTAL. 
 
 great Dagobas of Anuradhapoora in Ceylon, as described by Col. Forbes. But it is in 
 Burma a rare appendage of the pagoda, and we saw it in only one other instance. 
 
 The whole area is terraced towards the valley, and the lower terrace wall is of well- 
 hewn stone, a material which we have nowhere else in Burma seen used as the staple 
 material of any structure. The area also has been paved with large stone flags. 
 
 The brickwork of the dome itself was good. A rude and dangerous ladder led from 
 the higher basement to the htee, and when we arrived two men appeared to be engaged 
 above in clearing off" the grass which grows on the top of the dome rather abundantly. 
 The carved and gilded gates of the enclosure are quaint and curious. There is a tradition 
 that a battle was fought here with invaders from Munnipoor, and a large gash in the carved 
 frame of the eastern gate is pointed out as having been made by the sword of the Munni- 
 pooree king when forcing an entrance.* 
 
 In a cell in the court is the finest inscribed stone which we had seen in Burma or 
 elsewhere. It is a slab of polished white marble, with a richly-carved and gilt pediment 
 and border, standing eight and a half feet out of the ground by six feet in width, and eleven 
 inches in thickness. Each side contains eighty-six lines of beautifully-executed inscription 
 in the square Burmese character. From this inscription the date of the pagoda has been 
 ascertained to be no remoter than a.d. 1636.f Mr. Fergusson (Hand-book of Architecture) 
 conjectures this to be the date of the last repair only, judging from its form that it must be 
 of more ancient origin. It seems to be more probable that it was an attempt to resume 
 this more ancient form, influenced by some one who had visited the dagobas of Ceylon. 
 At least, the existing architectural accompaniments were not suggestive of very great 
 antiquity. 
 
 As we returned to Sagain we observed standing by the wayside a stone, like a mile- 
 stone, but of rough white marble, with a short inscription on it. This, Mr. Edwards ex- 
 plained, gave warning that the monastery of So and So was nigh at hand to the westward, 
 and deprecated the slaughter of animals in the sacred vicinity. 
 
 A little after noon to-day came another great convoy of war-boats, bringing the Mag we 
 Mengyi to visit the Envoy. This is the Woongyi who conducted the negotiations at 
 Prome in April and May 1853. He is a man who bears a high character among his 
 countrymen for moderation and honesty, and is considered the highest minister of state, 
 mainly from his character and the estimation in which he is held by the King. Strictly 
 speaking, no single member of the Hlwot-dau, or Royal Council, has precedence over 
 another. 
 
 The Woongyi was seen approaching, seated on the prow of his war-boat J under a 
 
 * The invasion referred to must have been in 1738, when Pamhaeeba, Raja of Munnipoor, more com- 
 monly known by the Hindustanee name of Ghareeb Nuwaz, defeated the Burmese on the Kyendwcn, and 
 advanced as far as Sagain, which he captured. {Pemberton's Report on the Eastern Frontier, p. 37.) 
 
 t Mr. Crawfurd says 1636. But see an extract from the inscription as translated by Burncy in 
 Appendix B. The greater part of it consists of religious and moral maxims. The square Burmese 
 character is to the round, much as our printed character is to our manuscript. This illustration was used 
 to Col. Burney by one of the Woongyis who knew a few words of English. 
 
 \ The prow of a war-boat appears to be regarded by the Burmese boatmen with almost as much 
 
JOURNAL FROM PAGAN TO THE CAPITAL. 67 
 
 red umbrella; the gilded umbrellas, which Burmese officials display in the provinces, being 
 prohibited in the capital, where that distinction is reserved for princes of the blood. He is 
 a keen-looking old man, with much good sense and a dash of sensuality in his countenance, 
 reminding one strongly, as Mr. Oldham happily suggested, of the portraits of some of the 
 abler medieval popes. 
 
 After he had taken his seat on the deck of the flat, by his desire each officer of the 
 Mission was introduced to him, and he asked their separate professions and objects of 
 inquiry. On Mr. Oldham being presented, he inquired if he had met with any copper or 
 lead ore. 
 
 The Woongyi was attended by a Woondouk, or minister of the second order of the 
 Hlwot-dau, and by a Ts&ye-dau-gyi, or royal clerk. 
 
 He greeted the Envoy in a very friendly manner, reminding him of their former meet- 
 ing at Prome, and asking after General Godwin. He remarked that the General ap- 
 peared to be short-tempered, but expressed regret on hearing of his death.* 
 
 He then asked if the arrangements for our comforts on the way up had been satis- 
 factory, and particularly at Magwe, his own district. Major Phayre assured him that they 
 had been everything that we could possibly have desired ; and took an opportunity of say- 
 ing that the Woondouk, who had acted as our conductor, had everywhere studied our 
 convenience, and done everything exactly as we wished. The Woondouk subsequently 
 thanked the Envoy for this, saying, it would be of great service to his interests. 
 
 Sitting, as we were, opposite the site of the deserted city of Ava, the conversation 
 turned upon former times, and the Woongyi spoke of his own early life, of the present 
 King's father Tharawadi, of Colonel Burney the Resident, of the earthquake which so 
 damaged the city in the year 1839, and other topics. He appeared to regret that Ava had 
 been abandoned. The party then went on board the Bentinck steamer, where they got 
 into a discussion on the solar system- This commenced from the Woondouk's saying that 
 the Envoy told him of a country north of Europe, where the sun, during a part of the 
 summer, remained above the horizon without setting, and for some period of the season set 
 below the horizon only for a very short time. The Woongyi said he had never heard of 
 this from any foreigner before. Major Phayre endeavoured to explain the solar system ; 
 but as the Burmese theory is that of a central mountain called Myen-Mo, several millions 
 of miles high, around which are firmly fixed four great islands, on the southern of which 
 Asia and Europe are situated,f the sun which lights them revolving round the central 
 mountain, the Envoy of course did not succeed in convincing the Minister of the truth of 
 
 superstitious veneration as the quarterdeck of a frigate is by an English post-captain. One clay, as some 
 of the party were stepping across a gilt war-boat to reach a canoe on the other side, the boatman in 
 charge became excessively excited in deprecation of our treading on the sacred prow, and spread himself 
 supine on it to prevent our doing so. 
 
 * " It is worthy of notice," says Major Phayre, " that none of the Burmese officials, except the Dalla- 
 woon, ever ask after Commodore Lambert. In the official correspondence at the time of the negotiations 
 from the capital, and since in personal intercourse with Burmese of rank, they have studiously avoided 
 mentioning his name." 
 
 t America, it is believed, they consider to be on another mundane island altogether. (P.) 
 
68 JOURNAl FBOM PAGAN TO THE CAPITAL. 
 
 our view of the case. As lie said lie had never before heard such a statement, Major 
 Pliayre requested him to ask Mr. Spears, who was on hoard. That gentleman came, and, 
 at the Woongyi's request, Major Pliayre addressed him in Burmese, lest (the Minister 
 jokingly said) he should instruct him. Mr. Spears having confirmed the Envoy's view of 
 the case, the Woongyi brought forward the Myen-Mo-Mount in refutation of the Coper- 
 nican theory. Mr. Spears then denied the existence of the said mount, which Major 
 Phayre had only done inferentially. The Woongyi somewhat indignantly said, "It is 
 spoken of in our sacred books, and its height is given, and the inhabitants of each region 
 are known exactly." Major Phayre endeavoured to pacify him by saying that we con- 
 sidered these subjects as pertaining to science, and not as a portion of our religious books. 
 The Woondouk here came to the assistance of his superior by saying, with an air of 
 ridicule, that he was once told by Mr. Edwards of an account being written of bees having 
 a queen to lead them, workers, soldiers, and so on. " Ah," says the Woongyi, " that's 
 from the book of science the Envoy speaks of. Well," at last he said good-humouredly 
 to Mr. Spears, " you have been among us all these years like one of us, and now an English 
 Envoy comes you turn against us." Then, turning to Major Pliayre, he continued, "Who, 
 besides yourselves, hold these opinious?" Major Phayre replied, " All European nations; 
 the English, French, Russians, Portuguese, Americans." " Why," replied he, " that 
 includes all the white foreigners. I shall ask the Poongyi about this," meaning Father 
 Abbona. " Do so," said Major Phayre ; " you will find he cannot reply otherwise than I 
 have done " 
 
 The Woongyi seemed pleased with his visit and did not leave till near three o'clock. 
 He then took a friendly farewell, having to go direct to the palace to report his reception 
 to the King. 
 
 The honour of a visit from such a dignitary at this distance from the capital is unpre- 
 cedented in British intercourse with the court of Ava. 
 
 This afternoon Mr. Camaretta arrived, accompanied by a large train of porters bearing 
 
 some thirty massive silver dishes with conical silver 
 covers, containing a variety of sweetmeats and other 
 choice viands sent in the name of the King and Queen, 
 with a gracious message to the gentlemen of the Mis- 
 sion. The sweetmeats were stated to have been made 
 under the superintendence of the Princess of Pakhan, the 
 widow of the prince of that name. She is half-sister to 
 .a- the King, and is a lady of about thirty. 
 
 The dishes, as the first specimens of genuine Bur- 
 mese cookery which some of us had seen, were curiously 
 Fig. 23. examined. One, which we had served at dinner, a sort of 
 
 vol-au-vent of rice-paste containing a melange of pork and chicken, had quite a Parisian nicety 
 of appearance, and was pronounced good and savoury, but rather rich. One sweetmeat was 
 very curious and very palatable. It consisted apparently of sections of palm-leaf, each 
 strip being tied in a succession of knots or joints, so as to resemble a rude necklace, and 
 
JOURNAL FROM PAGAN TO THE CAHTAL. 69 
 
 each joint being filled with a dark gelatinous sweetmeat, looking like a small fruit, which 
 in fact we at first supposed it to be, and having a pleasant jujube taste. It was made, we 
 were told, of rice-starch and palm-sugar, and would keep for a considerable time, so that 
 bundles of these necklaces are often taken as viaticum on a journey. 
 
 The Envoy having, when he last met Mr. Camaretta, spoken to him of the advantage 
 which would result from the conclusion of a treaty between the two Governments, the 
 latter mentioned to-day that lie had broached the subject to His Majesty the previous 
 night. The King said he did not see the use of the treaty. He was anxious to preserve 
 friendship, and would treat British subjects who came to trade with kindness and hospi- 
 tality, but he did not see the use of a treaty. 
 
 The Envoy pointed out that the object was to show openly to the subjects of the two 
 countries, and to the inhabitants of the neighbouring states, that friendship existed. This 
 they could not be convinced of unless a treaty was made. This Mr. Camaretta promised 
 to repeat to the King. As the King had expressed a wish to see Major Phayre at a private 
 audience after the public reception, he did not now press the subject. The King probably 
 dreaded lest the Envoy should make some open demand at a public audience, which it 
 might be inconsistent with his former answers to our demands to comply with. In short 
 it was evident that he feared being again asked to sign away territory. 
 
 The Santal insurrection, the accounts of which were in all the papers lately received, 
 extracts of which are regularly translated to the King, was attracting a good deal of attention 
 at the court. 
 
 During our visit to Khoung-moo-dau this morning, another party had been exploring 
 the ridges of hills behind Sagain. Every nook and knoll of these hills was found to be 
 occupied by some small monastic building, or zayat, or temple. In fact, every available 
 spot on the hillside has been seized on for the erection of religious structures. 
 
 One edifice which had sorely perplexed us, as seen from the river, is thus described by 
 Mr. Oldham. This " is a curious long carved corridor or cloister-like place, which, seen 
 from below, looked not unlike a small crescent in a fashionable watering-place in England. 
 It has been partially cut out of the solid rock behind, and in part has been regularly built 
 up. It consists of one long gallery or cloister with thirty arched entrances at equal 
 intervals, opposite to each of which there is a good-sized image of Gautama in the ordinary 
 Buddha position.* These are of plaster ; a broad brick terrace or plateau is formed in 
 front, some twenty feet wide, and this is supported by a carefully constructed revetment 
 wall of great extent and height." ' 
 
 Paths have been scarped along the hill-sides, carefully made, and leading from temple 
 to temple throughout the range, taking the form of staircases in approaching some of the 
 more elevated points. The space between the hills and the river on the east is a perfect 
 labyrinth of temples of every kind. 
 
 In the evening I visited a group of pagodas near the river bank east of our anchorage, 
 
 * That is to say, the legs i) la Turque and the soles of the feet turned up, the left hand laid in the lap 
 with the palm uppermost, and the right hand resting on and drooping in front of the right leg. The 
 fingers and toes are always represented as all of uniform length. 
 
70 JOUIiNAL FROM TAOAn TO THE CAPITAL. 
 
 passing along the top of the decayed town wall, which affords a path of some six or eight 
 feet wide. The principal pagoda (of the ordinary Pegu form) is very popular as a place 
 of worship. It is richly gilt, and surrounded at the hase with a palisade of lamp-pillars, 
 like that at Khoung-moo-dau, but here of pure white marhle. Figures of Puck-like Nats, 
 also in white mai-ble, were planted on the successive terraces of the hase. Outside the 
 pagoda, under sheds, are a number of very beautiful, massive, and various litters and 
 canopies, such as are used on state occasions by the princes. These are carved and gilt 
 with great richness and fancy, and have been devoted as offerings by different members of 
 the royal family. There were also a number of gilt figures of elephants, executed with 
 admirable spirit and truth. The Burmans have a special gift in representing this 
 animal. 
 
 September 1st. — About six this morning Makertich, accompanied by one of the Myo- 
 Woons or Governors of the city of Amarapoora (of whom there are two), came to 
 announce that the Woongyis would be ready to receive the Envoy, at the Eesidency pre- 
 pared for the Mission, about 7 A. M. 
 
 The Myo-Woon is a young man whose sister is one of the King's inferior wives. He 
 wore a Tsal-wi of six cords.* 
 
 The Woongyis had grievously miscalculated the time that would be occupied in 
 reaching the place of meeting. The Residency had been erected on one of the dry plains 
 to the south of the city, and about a mile distant from its walls, but separated from it by 
 what is now an extensive lake, and always, I believe, contains some water. The directest 
 access would have been by the Sagyen-wa creek which bounds the southwestern suburbs 
 of the city, and is the principal discharger of the lake. But this cx'eek was barred by 
 several wooden bridges, and we had to adopt the more circuitous course of the Myit-nge, or 
 little river, f This river enters the Irawadi close above old Ava (of which it forms the 
 port), but in the great tortuosity of its course has previously twisted up towards the south 
 side of Amarapoora, and by minor channels and inundated hollows communicates with the 
 Residency lake.J 
 
 The Woondouk having marshalled all his gilded war-boats in front, to show us the 
 proper channel, both steamers and flats got under way, and we started about half-past 
 seven. The voyage occupied us till noon, though in a direct line the distance could not be 
 more than seven or eight miles. Crossing the Irawadi, we entered the Myit-nge crowded 
 with river craft of all sizes. A mile from the mouth lay some of the King's boats. One 
 was a really royal-looking barge witli a many-storied pavilion-roof rising over the deck, 
 and the prow formed as a peacock's head ; the whole richly gilt. The river wound and 
 twisted, like the Forth through the alluvial flats below Stirling ; and as we advanced, the 
 
 * " This is a badge of nobility among the Burmese, and is, I believe, derived from the Brahminical 
 thread of India. It is worn depending from the left shoulder across the breast, and back under the 
 right arm." — Major Pliny re. 
 
 t See Major Allan's survey (PI. XXIII.) 
 
 X The lake is called Toung daman, which was explained to me as meaning " The southern 
 mirror." 
 
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JOURNAL FROM I'AGAN TO THE CAPITAL. 71 
 
 pagoda-crowned hills of Sagain seemed to be dancing round us. The river banks were 
 pretty thickly lined with villages, most of them inhabited by Munnipoorees, and the people 
 gazed in crowds as we passed. 
 
 Quitting the " Little River " we entered narrower channels, so narrow that the Nur- 
 budda following us up the winding stream looked quite enormous as she emerged from the 
 foliage which she brushed with her paddle-boxes. Pawn-gardens were very numerous, 
 marked by hundreds of irrigation troughs, and scoops lifted by long bamboo sweeps and 
 lines. 
 
 Emerging from the narrow creek into an ill-defined lake or flooded extent of rice- 
 grounds, by the aid of guide-posts, which the Burmese had planted the day before, we 
 arrived at the end of our voyage, an apparently interminable wooden bridge which 
 crossed the lake towards Amarapoora. Vast crowds lined the bridge and shores to see us 
 land; and as the front ranks pressed into the lake up to their middle, such a crowd (in 
 heraldic phrase) of " Salvages coupes " had a very quaint appearance. 
 
 The steamer moored to the bridge, and the Woondouk having taken the Envoy by 
 the hand, the Myo-Woon the Secretary, and so on, we landed in pairs, and walked in 
 procession to the Residency. Elephants had been provided, but the Envoy preferred 
 walking. The distance did not exceed three-quarters of a mile, but the day was hot and 
 oppressive, and the roads heavy with recent rain. 
 
 The road was lined throughout, on both sides, with the Burmese militia, rough and 
 shabby-looking fellows, but all armed with muskets (chiefly of old French pattern), and 
 dhds. The regulars or quasi-regular s, who continue on duty in the neighbourhood of 
 the capital, were clad in red jerkins of coarse cloth, having tin bandoliers belted round 
 the waist, and hard, heavy, broad-brimmed, bell-shaped hats of gilt or green lacquer on a 
 bamboo substructure. The irregulars were armed in the same way, but clad more at 
 discretion. The cavalry were ranged at wider intervals behind; mean enough and 
 unformidable they looked, poor fellows, on their shabby ponies, armed with short spears 
 and dhds. Some of the officers, however, were magnificent, if not military in display, 
 with their gold-mounted high-pommelled saddles, having on each side, beneath the stirrup, 
 a huge dependent flap of buffalo-leather, brilliantly gilt or picked out with rampant 
 dragons. This flap, sometimes nearly three feet in diameter, is the most curious feature 
 in Burmese "horse millinery," if it be not more properly Kathe.* Its use is difficult to 
 see ; I doubt if it has any, but it may be a relic of horse-armour, f 
 
 The finest of all these riders would have cut but a poor figure beside the prancing 
 cavalier whom Colonel Michael Symes has depicted in the quarto edition of his * Embassy,' 
 as a " Cassay Horseman." 
 
 Precedent guides the Burmese in all things, and it was, probably, because the said 
 Colonel Symes, as well as his successor, Captain Canning, had been located near this spot 
 during their sojourn at Amarapoora, that our residence was established here. 
 
 * Kathe, the Burmese name for the state and people of Munnipoor, called by themselves Moite. 
 t See Plate XIV. 
 
72 TOrKNAL FROM PAGAN TO THE CAPITAL. 
 
 At the foot of the stairs we were met by two Woongyis, and by one of the Atwen 
 Woons,* or privy-councillors. The Magwe Mengyif again repeated to the Envoy 
 the anxiety felt by his Majesty for our comfort and convenience, and assured him that 
 the King said he felt as anxious for him as for one of his own Woongyis. The Burmese 
 recognise only in a very inferior degree the obligation to be careful for the comfort and 
 honour of a stranger, guest, and foreigner, so that present evident desire to receive us 
 with distinction was thus attributed to his Majesty's having a regard for the Envoy equal, 
 even, to what he had for one of his own ministers. The idea of a Foreign Ambassador 
 being, as the representative of a friendly power, entitled to high distinction -and hospitable 
 reception, seemed quite beyond their thoughts. However, the welcome was apparently 
 hearty. There was not much conversation ; and after the Woongyi had satisfied him- 
 self that the house was suitable, and that we were likely to be comfortable, he and his 
 companions left us. 
 
 The Mission Residency was enclosed in a matted bamboo paling some seventy or eighty 
 yards square, with a gate on the east and west sides. Round the outside were sheds 
 for some 600 Burmese soldiers, who continued to be posted there during our stay, 
 nominally for our protection, partly doubtless to watch our proceedings. Similar sheds, 
 for our own escort and followers, ran round the interior of the enclosure. The house 
 itself was a very large bungalow, with many roof-ridges and gables, between which, as 
 we soon learned, copious discharges of rain descended on the rooms below. The skeleton 
 was of substantial teak timber, walled and floored with bamboo. There were two very 
 large public rooms, one of which was upwards of eighty feet long ; but our party was 
 rather unreasonably large, and the individual accommodations were somewhat scanty, 
 even including two small cottages at each gate. 
 
 The long front-room, which we used as a dining-room, was adorned with large 
 Chinese tubs, containing artificial trees covered with flowers and fruit. These repre- 
 sented jacks, loquots, mangoes, custard apples, peaches, &c, and the fruit was edible, or 
 meant to be so, consisting of little rolls and sweetmeats suspended by loops of wire, 
 intended (as we were informed) to be consumed and replaced daily. The trees, as models, 
 were not badly done, and formed rather pretty decorations. 
 
 The room was carpeted with stamped rugs of Chinese felt, was furnished with 
 chairs, tables, and a punka, and was hung with large Chinese lanterns and Anglo- 
 Indian wall-shades. These were filled every evening with little yellow indigenous wax- 
 candles, not much superior to rushlights. 
 
 Outside this saloon was a wide veranda looking down on a spacious portico, and this 
 portico was a theatre for our recreation. It was a great circular shed, with a conical 
 roof supported by a central mast, like a single-poled tent. On the further side was a 
 sort of proscenium of blue cloth, with gilt valance, and orthodox stage-doors adorned 
 with gilt pilasters and pediment in the Burman style. Dancing, &c, was going on as a 
 
 * There are four of these. They are inferior in rank to the Woongyis ; but between them and the 
 Woondouks, precedence is litigated. 
 
 t Mengyi, ' Great Prince,' a title applied to the Woongyis and a few other chief dignitaries. 
 
JOURNAL FROM TAOAN TO THE CAriTAL. 
 
 73 
 
 matter of course when we arrived, and when the conference broke up, a tumbler was 
 performing with the mask and tail of a monkey. He was a very active and flexible 
 individual, and played his part with wonderful accuracy, not without a too vulgar ad- 
 herence to nature at times. 
 
 There was also a show of puppets in the compound, whose prolonged orchestral enter- 
 tainments and dreary dialogue were the nightly enjoyment of our Burmese guard, and 
 caused us many sleepless hours. 
 
 In the theatro-portico and in the verandas stood immense silver water-jars, each 
 of the largest capable of holding a couple of men without difficulty. Huge silver ladles 
 lay across the mouths for the public use. These jars had a truly royal appearance. 
 
 The arrangement was to be regretted which interposed a space of at least two miles 
 between the Mission Residency and our flotilla, but as this place had been selected and 
 elaborately prepared for our reception, the thing was now unavoidable without an open 
 expression of distrust 
 
 ''«!««?.>- .-, .-_ 
 
 Fig. 4. 
 
CHAPTER IV. 
 
 OUK KESIDENCE AT THE CAPITAL, 
 
 Father Abbona reports the King's view of a Treaty — Discussion on that Subject — Camaretta — The 
 Sautal Insurrection — The King'sFeeling towards Lord Dalhousie — The King'sHcalth drunk — Comic 
 Acting — Visits to the City, and Freedom from Insult — King will receive us on any Day — Former 
 Envoys received on "Beg-Pardon" Days — Visitors not allowed to the Kuby Mines — Rain — Hin- 
 drances to the Townspeople coming to us — Opening of the Presents — Burmese Impressions of them 
 — The "Buffer" of the Mission Party and their Requests — Public Executions — European Deserters 
 — Fate of some such — King wishes to see the Envoy in private — Preservation of Ancient Hindoo 
 Customs at the Burmese Court — Discussions as to Ceremonial of Reception — Shoe Question — Day 
 of Reception (September 13th) — The Court-dress of the Officials escorting us — Passage of the Lake 
 — Order of Procession — The Burmese Troops — Delay at Palace Gate — The Crown-Prince and his 
 Tail — Meaning of his Title — Attempt to induce the Envoy to pay Homage to the Palace — Rationale 
 of the Proceeding — Occurrence on Former Missions — Enter the Palace — Description of the Audience 
 Hall — The Throne, its Typical Form — Advent of the King and Queen — Mr. Camaretta — The King — 
 The Queen is her Husband's Half-sister — Remarks on the Custom — The Heuza — Brahmins and their 
 Chants — Letter and Presents from the Governor-General — Formal Questions — Presents to the 
 Mission — Dismissal — Photography — Burmese Intelligence in appreciating Pictures — His Majesty's 
 Pawn-eating — Rain under our Auspices — Visit to the Crown-Prince (September 17th) — The Prince 
 and Princess — Improper Terms used — Extraordinary Visitor, the Hairy Woman — Firework Exhi- 
 bition — The King's Portrait and his Majesty's Criticism— Albinoes — Major Phayre has an Interview 
 _ with the King (September 21st) — His Account of it — Talk about a Treaty — on Western Politics — 
 Visit to the Woongyis — Pickled Tea — Royal Ladies — The old Nan-ma-dau Woon, tho Mckhara-men 
 — Elephant-taming, and Lieut. Heathcote's Account of the Spectacle — The Envoy has another 
 Audience (October 2d) — Remarks on Strange Disguise of Indian Terms in the Writings of Burmese 
 Scholars — His Majesty's Conversation — His Irony as to the Antiquity of English Kings — General 
 Existence of the Historical Records among the Indo-Chinese People — Cunningham's Bhilsa Topes — 
 The Use of the Number Ninety-Nine by the Burmese — His Majesty's Hesitation about a Treaty — 
 Discussions at the Palace — The Envoy has a Conversation with the Magwe-Mengyi — Another 
 Audience of the King — The Regalia — The King on a Near View — His Observations on the Benefit of 
 History — Conversation on various Subjects, Bhilsa Topes, Emerald Mountains — Elements of the 
 Body, Fossil Biloos — The Pawn-box — Fried Locusts — Pleasing Form of Dance — Another Interview 
 with the Magwe-Woongyi (October 16th) — Misrepresentation of Envoy's Language — Another Con- 
 ference — The Treaty declined — Burmese Contempt for Trade — Natural Curiosities — Preparations 
 for Festivities — The Buddhist Lent — Dancing Elephants — King won't sit for his Portrait — Farewell 
 Visit to Crown-Prince — Improved Impression of his Highness — Dialogue — The Woondouk Moung 
 Mhon — Farewell Audience of the King (October 20th)— Burmese and European Artists — English 
 Band in the Audience Hall — Farewell Call from the Four Woongyis (October 21st) — The King's 
 Letter brought — Our Embarkation. 
 
 September 2d.— Tins morning it was ordered by the Envoy that no person, till further 
 intimation, should visit the city. After a day or two, as the King expressed his willing- 
 ness that we should do so, this restriction was withdrawn. Formerly custom enforced that 
 
OUK RESIDENCE AT THE CAPITAL. 75 
 
 the members of a mission should not be seen in public until they had been received at 
 Court. 
 
 Thirty stalwart porters came again from the Palace to-day, with silver dishes of sweet- 
 meats, &c. These continued to come daily to the Envoy during the whole of our stay at 
 Amarapoora. 
 
 September 3d. — The ground was so wet with heavy rain, that we failed to-day in an 
 attempt to explore the country in our neighbourhood. Early this morning Father Abbona, 
 the Piedmontese priest of the Roman Catholic congregation at Amarapoora, who is fre- 
 quently employed by the King in demi-official negotiation, called upon the Envoy, and a 
 long conversation ensued. The King, he said, was determined to remain friendly with the 
 British. He might possibly sign a treaty, but there were two points which he dreaded to 
 have urged on him. One was signing away territory, which His Majesty said would cause 
 his name to be entered in the Yadza- Weng, or royal chronicle, with opprobrium, and the 
 other was entertaining a British resident at his court. 
 
 A treaty was lately proposed with the Sardinian Government (doubtless for some 
 object of Father Abbona and the other priests, as there is no other point of contact be- 
 tween the two powers), and in discussing it the King objected to receive a Sardinian 
 consul, because, he said, his consent would probably involve a similar application from the 
 British Government, to which he was much averse. The Padre further said, that the 
 King might consent to a treaty of amity and commerce, but he would expect our frontier 
 duties at Thayet-myo to be removed. -J 
 
 The Envoy recapitulated the advantages to both nations which would result from a 
 treaty, and said that the question of duties must be left to the pleasure of Government. 
 Mr. Abbona then said, that if both the Governments would abolish all duties, the whole 
 trade from Yunan would come down to Rangoon. 
 
 The Envoy considered this highly improbable, but not deeming it advisable to let it be 
 thought that the customs-duties formed any point for discussion, he merely said that our 
 Government would not abolish the duties, though on the conclusion of a treaty they would 
 allow the entry of warlike stores. 
 
 The Padre observed, that sulphur was now smuggled through in such quantities, that 
 it was scarcely dearer at the capital than it had formerly been.* As to receiving muskets, 
 the King had once said that he never could be so base, in the greatest extremity, as to use 
 against the English muskets which he had received from them.f 
 
 The King, as the Woondouk told the Envoy, looked on the latter just as one of his 
 own Woongyis. He was not so well disposed towards the Governor - General, having 
 never forgotten the strong language of a letter, delivered after the abortive negotiations at 
 Prome in 1853, which spoke of driving hiin and his family from their dominions. The 
 letter had, in fact, been originally penned for delivery to the deposed King. His present 
 
 * Mr. Spears confirmed this. The price was one rupee per viss. 
 
 t This may have been a flourish ; but the sentiment is not inconsistent with the King's character, 
 and the sincerity of the moment may have been in it. 
 
76 OUR RESIDENCE AT THE CAPITAL. 
 
 Majesty considered it very bard that sucli a threat should have been addressed to him, who 
 bad never, he said, allowed a shot to be fired against the British. 
 
 After dinner we drank the King's health, which was duly reported to hiin by Cama- 
 retta, and gave His Majesty (though a devout and zealous teetotaller) great satisfaction. 
 
 September 4th. — A great deal of acting was going on to-day in the portico. The play 
 was a comedy, and very cleverly performed. The story was that of a lover objected to by 
 the lady's brother. The pair at last resolve upon an elopement; the lover comes at night 
 to carry off his mistress, but carries off the brother by mistake. A good deal of the 
 dialogue appeared to be extempore. A large dog, belonging to Capt. Willis, having 
 lounged among the performers, a talk about him commenced, which lasted some ten 
 minutes. 
 
 The King having expressed no objection to our visiting the city, desiring only that wu 
 should go in parties, accompanied by a Burmese conductor to avoid insult, I went over 
 with some of the other officers of the Mission this afternoon. 
 
 A full account of the city will be found in another chapter. We soon in our visits dis- 
 used the attendance of the Burmese conductor ; and though I often spent many hours in 
 wandering through the city, often alone, or accompanied only by my Munnipooree inter- 
 preter, I never met with any semblance of insult. The only instance in which anything of 
 the kind did occur was to two suwars of the cavalry escort, who were struck with brick- 
 bats, and this was probably the act only of some street gamins. 
 
 September 5th. — Mr. Spears called to-day. The King had told him that he would 
 receive us on any day convenient to ourselves, only requiring two or three days' notice. 
 This is certainly different from the strenuous efforts made on former occasions to introduce 
 foreign envoys as suppliants on " Beg-pardon days," among the vassals and dependants of 
 the Empire, their presents being represented as deprecatory offerings to avert deserved 
 punishment for offences against their liege lord.* 
 
 Mr. Oldham also, he says, may go to the coal-fields. It is, however, evident that the 
 King does not wish him to go to the ruby-mines. In reply to hints on the subject he has 
 twice said that people going there at this season are sure to die. 
 
 He had been asking whether at the private audience Major Phayre would address him 
 in all respects as a superior, making use of the Burmese phraseology. The Envoy said 
 that he would address his Majesty in the same terms as one of the King's own ministers 
 would do, so far as his want of fluency in those terms would admit. The King, on hearing 
 this, remarked, " Then we shall want no interpreter." 
 
 Rain now became very frequent, at night especially, and very heavy. The river, how- 
 ever, and the lake before the residency, continued, though with fluctuations, to abate. 
 
 * This was the fate of both Symes and Crawfurd. Even the ambassadors of the " Great Elder 
 Brother," the Emperor of China, have been subjected habitually to this indignity. (See Burney in Jour. 
 As. Soc. vol. vi. parts i. and ii.) Burney himself was the first Envoy who was not presented on a 
 Kodau, or " Beg-pardon day." He determinedly resisted it ; but consequent rupture was only avoided 
 by the Woongyis telling the King that the Resident was too ill to appear on that day. And this was 
 only four years after the King had signed the humbling treaty of Vandabo ! 
 
OUR RESIDENCE AT THE CAPITAL. 77 
 
 It was very evident that, whether by the King himself or not, strict orders had been 
 given to prevent the access of the towns-people to us. We could not get them to bring 
 anything for sale, or if they did come, they were turned away. 
 
 The cases of presents were now opened. The Woondouk and other officials came to 
 make out a list of them, and they seemed to be much struck by the value and splendour of 
 the gifts on the whole, though some of them were ill adapted to Burmese habits. 
 
 A splendid silver centre vase, or wine-cooler, was set down in their list as a spittoon, to 
 which constant concomitant of their own dignitaries it bore a nearer resemblance than to 
 aught else within their cognizance. Two fine gold-wrought suits of Ilindustanee mail, 
 plate and chain, rather puzzled them. They at once said, however, that they knew it was 
 not English practice to wear such articles. The jewellery in our list they had remarked on 
 as being in excess, and rather suited to women than men. But its beauty, when seen, 
 rather drew their admiration. A small vinaigrette, or essence-bottle, cut out of a single 
 topaz, was particularly admired. 
 
 The rain penetrated our house in all directions, and in my room I could scarcely find 
 a dry corner. The Tsare-dau-gyi,* who had been put in charge of the Residency, pro- 
 fessedly to meet our petty wants, was a most impassive old man, who in reply to any 
 amount of remonstrance or request merely winked with great deliberation, and puffed his 
 cheroot-smoke in one's face. Apparently, indeed, he had been selected on account of his 
 stolidity as a sort of buffer (or Circumlocution Office) to intercept and exhaust applicants. 
 When I at last begged Mr. Edwards to mention the necessity of some improvement to the 
 Woondouk, the latter laughingly remarked that they also (the Burmese Mission) when at 
 Rangoon had been housed in a leaky tenement. So in this also they were but adhering 
 strictly to the precedent that we had set 
 
 Mr. Spears told me that, though he had always avoided being present at an actual 
 execution, he had often, in the time of the ex-King, seen scores of poor wretches led to 
 death, and in passing the burning-place, where executions also occur, he had seen the 
 numerous heads of the decapitated skewered to the earth by spikes of bamboo driven 
 through the cheeks, and the corpses piled behind. 
 
 Simple beheading is the usual mode of execution. The condemned kneels down with 
 his elbows pinioned behind him ; he is slightly pricked in the loins with a spear, which 
 makes him instinctively start and project his neck ; the blow is then struck. But they 
 also occasionally employ more cruel methods, such as crucifixion, amputation of the limbs 
 and joints successively before giving the coup-de-grace, or cutting open the bowels and 
 leaving the poor wretch to linger. 
 
 There are almost always some deserters here from our European regiments in Pegu or 
 Tenasserim. One poor wretch, an Irishman from the 2d Bengal Fusiliers, is now in gaol, 
 originally for a breach of the peace, and for the additional crime of drawing a knife on the 
 Myo-woon's officer, who apprehended him. Before we came he was working in irons in 
 the city ditch. Many years ago, in Tharawadi's time, fourteen deserters came over at 
 
 * llt^ul scribe. 
 
78 OUR RESIDENCE AT THE CAITTAL. 
 
 once. They were very drunken and disorderly, and the King, to get rid of them, sent 
 them away to the Shan country.* They all died except one. He, strange to say, is now 
 with us in charge of the presents. He had got a pardon and discharge before the last war. 
 When Rangoon Pagoda was taken he was found there a prisoner, and narrowly escaped 
 being bayonetted by his countrymen, f 
 
 September 7th. — Father Abbona came to breakfast, and had some conversation with the 
 Envoy. There seemed to be some point on which the King wished to see the latter in 
 private, and Major Phayre feared that it might be about the restoration of some portion of 
 Pegu. His Majesty might be, or might affect to be, so ignorant as to suppose that the 
 Envoy had authority to give up British territory. Should the King be so ill-advised as to 
 touch on the subject, Major Phayre would be compelled, however unwillingly, to revive 
 recollections, which are no doubt humiliating, and to refer to the emphatic language of the 
 Governor-General on this point. 
 
 Another object of His Majesty, it was gathered, was to have free passage up and down 
 the Irawadi for his steamer, and, probably, to have no inquiry made as to her cargo at the 
 frontier. 
 
 The King had asked Father Abbona why the Envoy was always writing, as it was 
 said that he so occupied himself nearly all day long. 
 
 During the next few days many tiresome discussions took place on the etiquette to 
 be observed on the day of presentation,! It was the Envoy's intention that the Governor- 
 General's letter should be carried under a canopy as far as the members of the Royal 
 House are allowed to carry their umbrellas, that is, to the steps of the Audience Hall. 
 To this the Burmese ministers strongly objected as unprecedented, and at last the King 
 himself sent a private message to Major Phayre, requesting him to withdraw this stipula- 
 tion. The Envoy did not judge it wise to persist after this, as the result must be offence 
 to the King, and prejudice to the treaty which we were desired to conclude. It was 
 also arranged that, in accordance with a Burmese custom, we should proceed to the 
 Yoom-dau,^ or Royal Court-house, which stands at the outer palace gate, and seat 
 ourselves there to witness the procession of the Princes and dignitaries with their 
 retinues on their way to the Hall of Audience. In ascending the Yoom-dau it was 
 stipulated that we were to remove our* shoes. 
 
 On hearing from the Envoy that he had not thought it desirable to hold out against 
 
 * Laos of our geographers. 
 
 f This man was originally employed in making gunpowder for King Tharawadi, in which he totally 
 failed. He afterwards was engaged on some drainage work at the ruby-mines, and is probably the only 
 European in later times who has been there. 
 
 X I believe the Woondouk among other things proposed that the horsemen should not form a part 
 of our escort. 
 
 The Burmese looked upon the palpable superiority of our cavalry with much jealousy and mortifi- 
 cation, the more perhaps as these men were not Europeans, but belonged to the despised Kalds of India. 
 
 When at a later period the little party of cavalry occasionally had field-days for the exhibition of 
 their dexterity in horsemanship and the use of arms, though such an exhibition must have been novel 
 and interesting to the Burmese, scarcely any of them attended. 
 
 § The lioutidnij of old writers. 
 
OUK RESIDENCE AT THE CAPITAL. 79 
 
 the King's request put to him as it had been, I took the liberty of expressing (as I had 
 before done) regret at his having consented that the mission party should go on the 
 Yoom-dau without their shoes, — a concession which had been avoided by Crawfurd and 
 Burney, but which would have been compensated for, perhaps, if we had carried the 
 point of bearing the Governor-General's letter to the Palace-stairs under royal honours. 
 To take off our shoes at the Palace itself was unavoidable, as the concession had been- 
 made by all preceding Envoys;* but to do this thing (which no amount of argument 
 will render to most Englishmen otherwise than ludicrous and degrading) at an exterior 
 shed, was looked upon by all the officers of the Mission with strong aversion, and with 
 a feeling that if it as well as the canopy question were conceded, the general reception 
 of the Mission would not be so honourable to our Government as that of the preceding 
 missions had been. 
 
 Major Phayre was still of opinion that in arranging to go to the Yoom-dau and 
 remove our shoes there, being at the same time received by the highest Minister of State 
 and conducted by him to the Hall of Audience, the Mission would occupy a higher position 
 in the eyes of the court and people, than if we entered any other building with our 
 shoes on. 
 
 But though not sympathising with the sentiment that there was any degradation in 
 removing our shoes at the Yoom-dau, out of regard to the feeling of the gentlemen of the 
 Mission he frankly consented to give up going to the Yoom-dau altogether. 
 
 September \3th. — The King made no objection whatever. It was settled that we 
 should go through without visiting the Yoom at all, and the Woondouk undertook that 
 there should be no vexatious delays. 
 
 Early in the morning the old Nan-ma-dau-Phra-Woon, the Woondouk Moung Mhon, 
 
 * A circumstance that did not prevent Col. Burney from successfully resisting it when on a mission 
 to the Court of Siam. He made some attempt to the same effect when he first came to Ava, but 
 eventually gave in to the practice of his predecessors. 
 
 His remarks (MS. Journal, 1830) are, however, worth recording : — " My objections to removing my 
 .shoes are founded on the fact that the Burmese require it, not as the fulfilment of a mere custom, but 
 as a means of exalting their King, and gratifying their own pride and vanity, by humiliating and de- 
 grading the British character. Besides, the Mussulmans of this place have persuaded the Burmese to 
 carry the etiquette regarding the shoes of Europeans much farther than what it is, I believe, at any other 
 court in Asia. Even in the streets and highways, a European, if he meets with the King or joins his 
 party, is obliged to take off his shoes. Dr. Price always walked and ran barefooted alongside of the 
 King's litter ; and Mr. Lane, on one occasion, when he was invited to see the ceremony of the King 
 ploughing the land, which is annually performed here as well as in China and Siam, was obliged to re- 
 move his shoes, and walk a mile or two over burning sand, till he was quite lame. When Sir A. Camp- 
 bell deputed Lieutenants Rawlinson and Montmorency to this place (Ava) in 1828, he prohibited them 
 from taking off their shoes, and they did not therefore see the King. 
 
 "Ten Chinese Envoys are said to have been murdered at the Court of Pagan in a.d. 1281, because (as 
 the tradition goes) they insisted on appearing in the royal presence with their boots or shoes on." (See 
 p. 32, and reference there.) 
 
 Some of the people have a notion that it is a breach of our caste, as it were, to take off shoes on any 
 occasion when dressed. I recollect some surprise being expressed by an Aracanese servant at my taking 
 off my shoes and stockings to ford a stream in the Yoma mountains. 
 
80 ODR RESIDENCE AT THE CAPITAL. 
 
 the Tara-Thoogyi, or Chief Judge of the capital, a burly jovial-mannered man, and 
 half-a-dozen other and minor officials came to escort us to the Palace. 
 
 They were all in their court robes, and were so disguised thereby that at first I 
 recognised none of the party. The head-dress is very outri, consisting of a sort of high 
 mitre of crimson velvet, curving back into a volute and encircled at the base with a 
 coronet of tinsel spear-heads. The robe is a heavy, wide-sleeved mantle of crimson 
 velvet, laced with a broad edging of Benares brocade. It seems to be ton to wear the 
 mitre excessively tight on the head, and some of the officials carried a little ivory im- 
 plement like a paper-knife, which was used (after the fashion of a shoe-horn) for 
 drawing on the cap and for packing away recusant locks of hair. The tsalwi, with 
 its cords in number according to the dignity conferred on the wearer, and a trumpet- 
 shaped ear-tube of gold, four or five inches in length, are also essential features in the 
 court costume. 
 
 The presents and the cavalry of the escort were despatched in advance by the 
 long bridge, to await us on the other side of the lake. The carriage for the King, 
 being too wide to cross the bridge, was sent across on a raft or platformed boat. Seventy- 
 five men of the Light Company of H. M. 84th which had come with us, and the 
 band (a part of that of the 29th foot), crossed over in boats, with instructions to form 
 in advance of the landing. 
 
 During the two previous nights the rain had been excessive. It rained again in 
 the afternoon and next day. But the morning itself was fortunately dry. 
 
 The passage of the lake was rather a brilliant scene. The jolly-boats of the steamers 
 led the way with the men of the 84th ; the Governor-General's letter followed in the 
 Zenobia's gig with the Company's jack flying at the bow ; the officers of the Mission in 
 other gigs and cutters, and a gilt war-boat carrying the Envoy and the Woons with 
 fifty Burman oarsmen rowing to a wild chant. The back-groimd of the picture was 
 formed by the white spire and pinnacles of the Ananda temple (a modern imitation of 
 that at Pagan), with a surrounding grove of noble cotton-trees and tall palmyras) ; the 
 Burmese soldiers of our guard and crowds of villagers lining the banks of the lake, 
 whilst behind all rose the manifold ranges of the Shan Mountains. 
 
 On landing we formed procession in the main street of the western suburb. The 
 cases of presents went first, cai-ried by Burmese porters on bamboo litters, and followed 
 successively by four Arab horses and an English carriage intended for the King, by 
 the band, the cavalry of the Escort (fifteen suwdrs of the 8th Irregulars under Lieutenant 
 A. M. Mackenzie), the Infantry of the Escort (seventy-five men of H. M. 84th under 
 Lieutenant Hardy and Ensign Woolhouse), the Secretary (on an elephant) carrying the 
 Governor-General's letter with the jack flying over it, the Envoy in a tonjon attended 
 by the Nan-ma-dau-Woon and the Woondouk on elephants; Dr. Forsyth and the 
 Tara-thoogyi ; Major Allan and one of the Tsa-re-dau-gyis, or Royal Scribes, and the 
 rest of the Mission officers in turn, each paired with a Burmese official in a Burmese howda. 
 This howda is a sort of hemispherical pannier, uneasily poised on the back of the animal 
 and fenced round with a low railing. It is well-enough adapted as the seat of one or 
 
OUK RESIDENCE AT TIIE CAriTAL. 81 
 
 even two of a race accustomed to squat upon the ground, but to a chair- using generation 
 it is intensely inconvenient. 
 
 When the flag was first hoisted over the Governor-General's letter some of the minor 
 officials made so much noise about it that the Woondouk was induced to remonstrate, 
 and said he could not move with this flag flying. The Envoy, however, declared that 
 he would not move without it, and when the Woondouk persisted in his objections 
 threatened to return to the Residency. 
 
 I believe we all felt that the Governor-General's letter went thus much more ap- 
 propriately honoured than by any number of umbrellas or canopies. 
 
 The street by which we first passed is called " Ambassador's Row," and is the very 
 street by which Symes and the Chinese Envoys entered Amarapoora in 1795. 
 
 Our route lay to the western central gate of the city. For the whole distance the 
 way was lined with troops ; a single line of musketeers on each side and an occasional 
 horseman, perhaps one to every fifteen infantry. All sorts of persons had evidently been 
 pressed into the service, peasants, old men and boys, but the essential point was the 
 exhibition of the store of muskets. At each cross-street stood elephants carrying 
 officers (as they seemed to be), men in gilt Mambrino hats and mountebank costumes, 
 exactly like the histrionic princes in the rustic theatres at Magwe and elsewhere, decked 
 out with triple buckram capes, and shoulder lappets, and paltry embroidery. 
 
 Many of the soldiers carried flowers or green leaves in the muzzles of their pieces- 
 
 A body of men in red jackets and papier-mache" helmets, who kept alongside the 
 procession, appeared to be more at home with their arms than the motley musketeers who 
 lined the way. Crowds of spectators, among whom more than half were women, peeped 
 through the white lattice that lines the principal streets, and thronged in denser masses 
 at the cross-streets, all silent, or nearly so. 
 
 After entering the city by the western gate we were led half round the palace, so 
 as to enter the latter by the eastern gate. The distance from the place where we had 
 crossed the lake was thus fully three miles. There were many halts and hitches on the 
 road, owing to the heavy packages of presents that led the way, and to the occasional 
 difficulty of dragging the royal carriage through the heavy mire. 
 
 Inside the city the streets were deluged with water from the last night's rain, and 
 the Burmese soldiers were providentially furnished with little stools or platforms of 
 bamboo to keep them out of the mud. At intervals the officers sat squatted on higher 
 frames of similar construction, each with his spittoon and box of sundries. I did not see 
 one well-looking man among all these Bos. Among the spectators were some comely 
 women, and many tastefully dressed and with pleasant sensible expression, though 
 generally disfigured by careworn aspect or by a prominently bad mouth. 
 
 At last, with fixed bayonets, and band playing, our escort turned up the street leading 
 to the eastern gate of the palace, and halting, faced inwards for our party to pass. 
 
 Just then the procession of the heir-apparent turned in before us from another road 
 to enter the Palace. This no doubt had been timed to keep us waiting at the Palace 
 gate, this being, according to Burmese ideas, a royal method of asserting a high degree 
 
 M 
 
82 OUR RESIDENCE AT THE CAPITAL. 
 
 of dignity. The Prince himself was conspicuous, aloft in a massive gilded litter borne 
 by many bearers, with eight long-shafted gold umbrellas flashing overhead. He entered 
 the gate, and it was closed behind him. A retinue of several hundred soldiers attended 
 him to the gate. They then countermarched in a curious manner. An open circle was 
 formed in front of the gate, and round this the two ranks countermarched, circling to 
 right and left respectively so as to change sides. This crossing stream continued for 
 several minutes, and was no doubt intended to have an impressive effect. Indeed we had 
 a shrewd suspicion that each man as he passed out of sight circled round again, and 
 repeated the manoeuvre, so as to double or treble the apparent numbers of the force, 
 and to retard our entrance.* 
 
 After some little further delay, whilst the Woondouk sent forward a man to the 
 Palace gates to announce our arrival and request permission to enter, we passed through 
 the street of our escort, and dismounted at the stockade which encircles the Palace wall. 
 Here all umbrellas were left, and (more reluctantly) the swords of the officers. This is 
 the strict etiquette of the Palace, which allows no one, except the King's own guards, to 
 carry a weapon inside. Even the heir-apparent is not allowed to do so. 
 
 The gate by which we entered is called " Ywe-dau-yoo-Taga," or the " Royal gate 
 of the chosen," because the care of it is intrusted to chosen troops. It is the only gate 
 of the Palace used as a public entrance.! 
 
 As we were dismounting, noon was struck by alternate strokes on a great bell and 
 great drum elevated on a square tower within the gate. 
 
 Before passing in we formed a sort of procession, in the same order as on our passage 
 through the streets, but the Envoy now took the Governor-General's letter from the 
 Secretary and carried it himself. Our conductors took off their shoes at the gate, and the 
 Woondouk made an ineffectual attempt to induce the Envoy to do likewise. They also, 
 at four different places, as we advanced to the inner gate, dropt on their knees and 
 shikhoedX towards the Palace. The Woondouk tried to induce the Envoy to imitate him 
 in this also, but also unsuccessfully^ Indeed I believe no Envoy has been so deluded 
 
 * Col. Burney, who for two hours had to watch the procession of the courtiers with their retinues 
 before his first presentation to the King, remarks that some of his party were acute enough to discover 
 that many of the retainers, as well as of the elephants and the bands of music, after passing in the suite 
 of one Prince went round in the rear, and appeared as part of the suite of another Prince. (MS. 
 Journal.) 
 
 f It is in fact tho front gate of the Palace, the east being always considered the front by the Burmans, 
 insomuch that she signifies front as well as cast. The title of the Crown-Prince, Em-she-men, as before 
 noticed, signifies " Lord of the Eastern Palace ;" and Col. Burney points out, as one of the many coin- 
 cidences of custom between the two states, that in Siam the chief personage next to the King is termed 
 Wangna, or "Front of the Palace." The Wangna of Siam is Sir John Bowring's "Second King." 
 But the latter says the term means " Junior King." 
 
 J An obeisance made by raising the two hands to the forehead and bowing the head to the ground. 
 
 § When Major Phayre afterwards told the Woondouk that he ought not to have addressed him in 
 the manner that he did on this occasion, the latter replied, " When in Calcutta at the Government 
 House, you told me to bow to the Governor-General, which you said was your custom, and I was only 
 telling you what ours was." 
 
OUR RESIDENCE AT THE CAPITAL. 83 
 
 since the time of Colonel Symes and Captain Cox. Major Allan's companion also, in 
 rather a rude tone, told him to take off his hat, but met with so prompt a rebuke in his 
 own language that he seemed to remember it with benefit to his maimers during the rest 
 of our stay. 
 
 Both the removal of shoes at the gate, and the prostrations in advancing to the Palace, 
 are part of the regular system of endeavour to throw dust in the eyes of foreigners. It 
 is never done, I believe, excepting on the occasion of introducing Envoys from other states, 
 and doubtless is intended to impress on them the almost divine nature of their sovereign, 
 as well as to induce them to perform some act which shall mark them as suppliants at 
 the golden feet.* 
 
 Passing the inner gate, we found ourselves immediately in front of the gilded colonnade 
 and spire of the Hall of Audience.f In the corners of the inner court were groups of 
 tumblers, dancers, and jugglers, performing to large circles of spectators. Passing 
 these to the stairs at the north end of the terrace-basement of the hall, Sarkies Manook 
 the Armenian came to conduct us, looking very absurd as he walked in his stockings, and 
 as we all doubtless did presently. For here, at the foot of the staircase, we left our shoes, 
 and mounting the steps, which were dirty and unswept, we passed along the colonnade to 
 the centre of the front, and there entering, advanced a few paces and took our seats upon 
 the carpet, doubling our legs behind us as well as we could.| 
 
 The long wings of the hall formed, as it were, the transepts of a cathedral ; in front of 
 us ran back a central hall like the choir ; and in the position of the altar stood the throne, 
 under a detached roof which in fact formed the many-storied spire conspicuous from all 
 sides of the city. The central space was bounded by tall columns, lackered and picked 
 out in red towards their bases. Other rows of columns ran along the transepts. The 
 whole, except the red bases of the columns, was a blaze of gilding. 
 
 One high step and four of less rise ascended to the dai's on which stood the throne. 
 This was in character exactly like the more adorned seats of Gautama in the temples, and 
 like that from which the High Poongyi preaches. Its form is peculiar, contracting by a 
 gradation of steps from the base upwards to mid-height, and again expanding to the top.§ 
 
 * Our old Envoys used to give iu to this practice. Thus Mr. Edward Fleetwood, who went as Envoy 
 from the Governor of Fort St. George in 1695, says : " When the Palace gates were opened we fell down 
 upon our knees, and made three bows ; which done, we entered the garden, the present following ; and 
 having gone about half-way from the gate, to the place where the King was seated, we made three bows 
 again as before. When we got within fifteen yards of the King we made three bows again, as wc had 
 done before, and were ordered to sit down." (Dalrymple's Or. Repertory, i.) Exactly the same did Capt. 
 George Baker in 1755. But Fleetwood is not ashamed ; Baker is, and apologizes, so there was some 
 advance. Col. Symes, in 1795, did not go on his knees, but he was bullied into taking his hat off to the 
 Palace. So did Captain Hiram Cox two years later, and even dropt on one knee and bowed his head, to 
 " pay his respects to the throne," before the King's entrance. 
 
 The Chinese ambassadors also, according to the Burmese Chronicle quoted by Col. Burney, were made 
 to go through these obeisances. {Journal Asiat. Soc. Ben. vi. 409.) 
 
 f A description of the Palace will be found in the section on Amarapoora. 
 
 J It is contrary to etiquette to turn one's feet towards the King. 
 
 § " The original shape is that of two triangles joined at their apices. These typify Fire and Water, 
 the elements mainly instrumental, according to the Buddhist cosmogony, in the destruction and repro- 
 
84 OUR RESIDENCE AT THE CAPITAL. 
 
 The top of the throne was mattrassed with crimson velvet, and at one side was an elbow- 
 cushion for the King. ' A carved door-way closed by gilded lattice-doors led from behind 
 to the top level of the throne. 
 
 The material of the throne was a sort of mosaic, of gold, silver, and mirror-work. A few 
 small figures occupied niches in the central band. These were said to represent the 
 progenitors of the human race. In front of it, on the edge of the steps, stood five gilded 
 shafts, with small gilded labels or scrolls attached like flags to them. These also are 
 royal emblems. 
 
 On each side of the dai's were railed recesses like pews, and along the walls which ran 
 right and left in rear of the throne were rows of expanded white umbrellas fringed with 
 muslin valances. The centre aisle, near the extremity of which we sat, was laid with 
 velvet-pile carpets of Axminster or Lasswade manufacture. The rest of the hall was 
 matted merely, excepting where some of the higher dignitaries had their special carpets. 
 
 The centre aisle in front of us was unoccupied excepting by a double row of young 
 princes, in surcoats of silver and gold brocade with gay silk putsos. Four of these boys 
 next the pillars on our right were the King's sons ; four on the left were the sons of the 
 Crown-prince. 
 
 Farther forward, near the steps of the dais, and between two of the pillars on our right, 
 the Ein-she-men himself was seated in a sort of couch or carved litter, scarcely raised 
 above the ground. He wore a dress of Benares gold brocade, and a mitre similar in 
 general form to those worn by the courtiers, but of much richer material and set with 
 precious stones. He never turned round, but confessed his curiosity by the use he was 
 seen to make of a small looking-glass. Behind the pillars on each side, and a little in 
 advance of us, were the Woongyis; and farther forward several elderly princes of the 
 blood, men of sensual aspect, and heavy-jowled, like the heads of some of the burlier 
 Caesars, or with their heavy robes and jewelled tiaras perhaps recalling rather some of the 
 old popes. Close to us were two of the Atwen-woons, or Ministers of the Interior Council, 
 and some Nehhan-daus (" Royal Ears"), and other officers of the Palace and Hlwot-dau. 
 
 The transepts, as I have called them, on each side were filled with a crowd of minor 
 officials of the Court, with several of the Tsaubwas, or tributary Shan princes, men of a 
 more refined countenance and deportment than the Burmese, as it struck us.* 
 
 The Envoy, on taking his seat, deposited the salver holding the Governor-General's 
 letter on a gilt stool covered with muslin which had been placed for the purpose. Little 
 gilt stands containing trays of tobacco, pawn, hlapet^ and other curious confections, neatly 
 set out in golden cups or saucers, and accompanied by water goglets and gold drinking- 
 
 duction of a world. Hence one seated thereon represents the Lord of the Universe. This title the King of 
 Burma arrogates to himself as the representative of the ancient Buddhist kings of India." {Major Phayre.) 
 
 * According to Burney, the position of the courtiers, which is all rigorously laid down, is as follows : 
 In the middle in two lines, at right angles to the throne, sit the Princes ; behind them the Woongyis 
 and Atwenwoons ; then, on each side of these, in six lines parallel to the throne, the Tsaubwas, the 
 Woondouks, Secretaries, &c. The pillars prevented our seeing the general arrangement well. 
 
 t " Pickled tea." 
 

 THE AUDIENCE. HALu AND RECEPTION OF THE EN* ON >»»> > I ', < ', ','/'•,' / 
 
 ! 
 
• ••«•* 
 
OUK RESIDENCE AT TIIE CAPITAL. 85 
 
 cups, were then placed before the officers of the Mission. The water was faintly, and to 
 our ideas unpleasantly, perfumed with musk.* 
 
 Some twenty minutes or more elapsed before the royal advent, but though our 
 attitude was uneasy we continued to view with curiosity and interest the novel and 
 brilliant scene before us. 
 
 At last the King's approach was announced by music, sounding, as it appeared, from 
 some inner court of the Palace. A body of musketeers entered from the verandas in rear 
 of the throne, and passing forward took their places between the pillars on each side of the 
 centre aisle, kneeling down with their muskets (double-barrelled pieces) between their 
 knees, and their hands clasped before them in an attitude of prayer, f 
 
 As the last man entered the golden lattice doors behind, the throne rolled back into 
 the wall, and the king was seen mounting a stair leading from a chamber behind to the 
 summit of the throne. He ascended slowly, and as if oppressed by weight, using his 
 golden- sheathed sword as a staff to assist his steps. This is, doubtless, in some degree a 
 royal etiquette, but Mr. Camaretta asserted that the jewelled coat worn by his Majesty 
 actually weighed nearly one hundred pounds. 
 
 The Queen followed close upon her husband. The King, after standing for a second or 
 two, slightly dusting the gudhi with a small chowree which he had carried in his left hand, 
 took his seat on the left side of the throne, resting his elbow on the velvet cushion which 
 was placed for that purpose covered with a white napkin. The Queen seated herself on 
 the King's right and a little in rear, assisting to hand in the gold spittoon and other 
 appendages of a Burmese dignitary, which were presented by female attendants from 
 behind. Between their Majesties in front of the throne stood a large golden figure of the 
 sacred Henza\ on a pedestal. After the Queen had finally taken her seat she fanned her- 
 self diligently for a few moments, and then fanned her husband, whilst one of the girls from 
 behind brought her a lighted cheroot, which was immediately placed between her royal lips. § 
 
 From the distance at which we viewed the King, he seemed a somewhat portly 
 man, having features of a much more refined character than are common among his 
 subjects, exhibiting indeed the national physiognomy, but much subdued. His expression 
 was good and intelligent; his hands delicately and finely formed. His dress was 
 
 * De La Loubere mentions of the Siamese that "they love only to drink water perfumed." (P. 21.) 
 t Mr. Camaretta accompanied the body-guard, smoking a cheroot, and clothed in an incongruous 
 costume, which gave us a good deal of amusement. He wore a common English hat encircled with a 
 coronet of gold spear-heads and inscribed plates, like that attached to the mitres of the Burmese courtiers, 
 with the tsalwe over his shoulder, and carried a dha, or Burmese sword, in his hand. These paraphernalia 
 were in rather indifferent keeping with the white jacket and trousers, and black satin waistcoat, which 
 formed the rest of his attire. 
 
 . X Col. Burney calls it a Peacock. It is sufficiently unlike both to pass for either. Mr. Howard 
 Malcom, in comical perplexity, explains the Henza to be "the Brahminee goose, a species of Kite /" 
 Henza gives name to Henzawadee, the name of the province of Pegu. The word is Sanskrit, Hansa, 
 a goose, kindred to anas and anser, Game, gander, and x,m. The Henza (Hansa) is regarded as the king 
 of birds. It is perhaps a mythicised swan. 
 
 § For either subject or stranger, whilst having an audience of the King, it is no breach of etiquette 
 to smoke a cheroot. 
 
86 OUR RESIDENCE AT THE CAriTAL. 
 
 a sort of long tunic or surcoat, of a light-coloured silk apparently, but so thickly set 
 with jewels that the fundamental material was scarcely discernible. His cap or crown 
 was a round tiara of similar material, in shape like an Indian morion, rising to a peak 
 crowned with a spire-like ornament several inches high, and having flaps or wings 
 rising over each ear. Over the forehead was a gold plate or frontlet. This crown is 
 called Thara-poo. 
 
 The Queen was not seen to such advantage. This was partly owing to the character 
 of her head-dress, which would have been a very trying one to any lady. It was a 
 perfectly close cap, covering ears and hair entirely, and rising above into a conical crest 
 strangely resembling in form a rhinoceros horn,* with the point curved forward into a 
 volute. Close lappets fell along the cheeks. The rest of her Majesty's dress had rather 
 an Elizabethan character. The sleeves and skirt appeared to be formed in successive 
 overlapping scolloped lappets, and the throat was surrounded by a high collar, also 
 scolloped or vandyked, and descending to the waist. At the waist she wore a stomacher 
 or breast-plate of large gems. Both cap and robe were covered and stiffened with 
 diamonds, or what appeared to be such. The Queen is her husband's half-sister, as has 
 been always the custom in the royal families of the Burman race, including that of 
 Aracan when independent,! and probably that of Pegu 4 
 
 One of the young girls who appeared at the lattice door in rear of the throne, dressed 
 somewhat after the fashion of the Queen was, as we understood, the King's daughter. 
 Another pretty little girl, with white flowers in her hair, who peeped in occasionally to 
 
 • Or perhaps rather the large nipper of a crab's claw. 
 
 f Vide Phayrc's Hist, of Arracan in Jour. Asiat. Soc. vol. xiii. p. 39. 
 
 X And occasionally, if not always, that of Siam. (See Be la Zoubere's Hist. Bel. p. 52.) Col. Burney 
 mentions in his MS. Journal that a captive Siamese prince, who lived at Ava in his time in the humble 
 position of a druggist, was married to his own niece. In our own day in Europe, Dom Miguel of Por- 
 tugal was betrothed, if I am not mistaken, to his niece Donna Maria. But such marriages would, I 
 believe, be abhorrent to the Burmese in any other family than that of the blood-royal. I had supposed 
 it to be a relic of one of those anomalies in the customs of marriage and succession which are found very 
 extensively diffused among the Indo-Chinese and kindred races, and probably originates in the samo 
 feeling (the desire to secure the transmission of the sacred blood) as the custom of inheritance prevalent 
 among some of those races, by which the sister's son, and not the son, is the successor to the sovereignty. 
 This custom holds among the Kasias of the Sylhet mountains, a people probably allied to the Burmese, 
 (see a paper by the present writer in Jour. Asiat. Soc. for 1845) ; and among some of the Malay tribes 
 of Sumatra (seo Life of Baffles, p. 435) ; as it does, or did, among the remoter Nairs of the Malabar 
 coast. (Purchas, ii. 1708, and Ibn Batuta, p. 167) ; and among some of the Negro tribes of the Niger, 
 (Ibn Batuta, p. 23, and Allen's Account of the Niger Expedition in 1841.) The same remarkable custom 
 prevailed among the Indians of Hispaniola when discovered by Columbus (Wash. living's Life of Col. B. 
 iv. ch. 9) ; and among the Bajas qf Tipura, according to Buchanan Hamilton ; (Brewster's Edin. Jour, of 
 Science, ii. 51). Such peculiarities will always, I apprehend, be found connected with a lax system of 
 marriage and divorce. It seems as if they must have risen amid the most degraded conditions of 
 humanity, when men, like a litter of kittens, knew their mothers, but not their fathers. 
 
 The custom in the royal family of Burma is, however, I find, an imitation of that which the Bud- 
 dhist legends relate (probably with foundation in fact) to have been practised by the royal race of Sakya. 
 (See the story in Hardy's Man. of Bud. p. 133.) In a dispute between the cities of Kapila Vastu and Koli 
 about an irrigation embankment, the latter said the people of Kapila were like pigs and dogs, intermarry- 
 ing as they did with their sisters. (Ibid. p. 307.) 
 
OTJR RESIDENCE AT THE CATCTAi. 87 
 
 get a glimpse of the Kalds, was said to be a child of the heir-apparent residing in the 
 palace. 
 
 When the King had fairly entered, we all took off our hats, which hitherto we had 
 kept on, and at the same time the whole of the native assembly bowed their faces to the 
 ground and clasped their hands in front of them. The two rows of little princes, who lay 
 in file before us, doubled over one another like fallen books on a shelf, and the two Atwen- 
 woons who sat near us grovelled forward in their frog-like attitude to a point about half- 
 way to the throne, as if to establish a " repeating station " between the King and us. 
 
 Some eight or ten Brahmins,* in white stoles and white mitres encircled with gold 
 leaves, then entered the screened recesses or pews near the throne, and commenced a 
 choral chant in the Sanscrit language. This was succeeded by a similar chant in 
 Burmese, sung by one of the Brahmins also. 
 
 Transcripts of these hymns were afterwards furnished to the Envoy by one of the 
 Brahmins. The Sanscrit is merely a string of names of the chief Hindoo gods, sages, 
 and sacred creatures, whose benediction is invoked on the King's head. The concluding 
 stanza ascribes its composition to Kalidasa. A translation, by Major Phayre, of the 
 Burmese Hymn will be found in the Appendix (0.) 
 
 When the chants were concluded, our friend the Tara-Thoogyi, or Chief Justice, 
 who was close on our left, read from a Parabeik (or black note-book) an address to 
 the King, stating that the offerings which his Majesty purposed making to certain pagodas 
 at the capital were ready, and one of the officials uttered, " Let them be dedicated." The 
 music was then renewed. 
 
 " The chant of the Brahmins, accompanied by the ceremony of A-beit-theit (literally, 
 a pouring out of water on a solemn occasion)! may be considered as especially preliminary 
 to this religious act of dedicating gifts to the pagodas, and the whole as a solemn in- 
 auguration of the proceedings of a Royal Sitting." { 
 
 The Governor-General's letter § was then taken from its cover, and read aloud by a 
 Than-dau-gan, or " Receiver of the Royal Voice." The lists of the presents to the King 
 and Queen were then read by the same official. The cases had been ranged along the 
 outer colonnade. The railway model, which Mr. (now Sir) Macdonald Stephenson had 
 put at the disposal of the Envoy for presentation, was the only one of the presents 
 
 * " Of these Brahmins, two are from Benares, all that remain of eight who were, together with their 
 families, brought from India thirteen years ago. The rest returned to their own country. These two 
 have quarrelled about money matters, and do not speak. They are of the Vaishmva sect. They are the 
 astrologers of the court, and their assistance is considered necessary on great state occasions, but they 
 exercise no religious influence whatever. Besides the Benares Brahmins there are here the descendants 
 of some who were brought from Aracan when that province was conquered by the Burmese in 1783. 
 These had originally been brought from Bengal to Aracan by the kings of that country. Their original 
 language was Bengali. Those I saw spoke Hindostanee, and having been born in this country wore 
 familiar with the Burmese language, and could read and write it. In Siam, also, Brahmin astrologers 
 are maintained at the Court." — {Note by Major Phayre.) 
 
 t This is a Pali perversion of the Sanskrit abhisheka, a sprinkling or pouring out of water as a 
 religious ceremonial. — W. 
 
 X Major Phayre. § See Appendix D for the letter. 
 

 88 OUR RESIDENCE AT THE CAPITAL. 
 
 which was actually exhibited in the hall. It excited a good deal of interest among the 
 Burmese. 
 
 All these readings were intoned in a high recitative, strongly resembling that used in 
 the English cathedral service. And the long-drawn Phya-a-a-a! (My Lord), which 
 terminated each reading, added to the resemblance, as it came in exactly like the Amen 
 of the Liturgy. 
 
 Three questions which custom prescribes were then put to the Envoy, as if from the 
 King. His Majesty, however, did not move his lips, though it was thought that he 
 intimated his will by an inclination of the head. The questions were actually put by one 
 of the Atwen-woons, who had taken up their position half-way to the throne. The latter, 
 half turning round his body, said : 
 
 " Is the English ruler well?"* 
 
 Envoy. " The English ruler is well." The Than-dau-gan repeated in a loud voice : 
 " By reason of your Majesty's great glory and excellence, the English ruler is well, and 
 therefore, with obeisance, I represent the same to your Majesty." 
 
 Atwen- Woon. " How long is it since you left the English country?" 
 
 Envoy. " It is now fifty-five days since we left Bengal,f and have arrived and lived 
 happily at the royal city." 
 
 lliandau-gan. " By reason of your Majesty's great glory and excellence, it is fifty- 
 five days since the Envoy left the English country," (Bengal, here interposed Major 
 Phayre), " and he has now happily arrived at the golden feet, therefore with obeisance," 
 &c. &c. 
 
 Atwen-Woon. " Are the rain and air propitious, so that the people live in happiness 
 and ease?" 
 
 Envoy. " The seasons are favourable, and the people live in happiness." The 
 Than-dau-gan repeated this in the same fashion as before. 
 
 Presents were then bestowed on all the officers of the Mission. Major Phayre received 
 a gold cup embossed with the zodiacal signs, a fine ruby, a tsalwi of nine cords and a 
 handsome putso ; other officers, a plain gold cup, ring, and putso, or a ring and putso, 
 only.f 
 
 The King then rose to depart, the Queen helping him to rise, and then using his sword 
 to help herself up. They passed through the gilded lattice ; the music played again, 
 the doors rolled out from the wall, and we were told that we might retire. 
 
 The usual court-etiquette is that the highest in rank, the Ein-she-men, should leave 
 first, but the usual custom having been deviated from in our reception, it appears they 
 altered the ordinary arrangements in the breaking up of the assembly. 
 
 * Ing-leet Men may apply to the Queen of England, or to the Governor-General. It is an ambiguous 
 expression, purposely, I believe, adopted by the Burmese as a salve to their pride compelled to hold 
 intercourse with a dignitary who is not an anointed king. 
 
 t That is, since the Governor-General's letter, under charge of the Secretary, had left Bengal. 
 
 % Lord Dalhousie was kind enough eventually to permit each of the party to retain one article, as a 
 memorial of his visit to Amarapoora. 
 
OUR RESIDENCE AT THE CAPITAL. 89 
 
 We were not sorry to get our dismissal, for we were intensely cramped by the attitude 
 in which we had been sitting, and some of us had found it utterly impossible to preserve 
 it without occasional solecisms, which brought on us the frowns and becks of the old 
 Nan-ma-dau- VYoon. 
 
 On descending from the palace, we looked for a few moments at the tumbling, 
 juggling, rope-dancing, &c, which was going on in the court, and then we were invited to 
 go and visit the " Lord White Elephant." We found him occupying his state apartment, 
 a large ornamental shed north of the Audience Hall. 
 
 We mounted again on quitting the outer court, and returned by the same circuitous 
 route that we had followed in the morning, but traversed it much more rapidly, now that 
 we were relieved of the train of presents. We reached the Residency, not a little tired, about 
 four o'clock. 
 
 September 15th. — The King, through the Woondouk, intimated that he was much 
 pleased with the presents, and especially admired the ruby-coloured crystal chandelier. 
 He also wished to know if any one could instruct the Pabe-woon* (Master of the Ord- 
 nance), or some of his people, to use the photographic apparatus. Major Phayre explained 
 that it would take a long time for any one to learn, and suggested that a young man should 
 be sent to Calcutta for the purpose. 
 
 This photographic apparatus had been introduced among the presents on account of the 
 King's having expressed to Mr. Spears great curiosity on the subject of the "sun-pictures" 
 of which he had heard, and the mode of producing them. A man was afterwards sent 
 occasionally to wait on Capt. Tripe, the able photographer who was attached to the Mission ; 
 but the man's desultory attendance, and the difficulty of communication on a subject so " 
 involved in niceties and technicalities, left the result of the attempt at instruction nil, as 
 might have been expected. 
 
 The Burmese, however, took much interest in the pictures which Capt. Tripe, Mr. 
 Grant, and the sketching members of the Mission produced ; and even the photographs, though 
 all remaining in the negative stage, appeared to be understood, and in some degree appre- 
 ciated by them ; whilst they were gratified, and perhaps somewhat surprised, at the interest 
 and admiration expressed by us for many of the buildings which formed the subjects of 
 pictorial representation, especially the highly-carved monasteries. 
 
 It was very striking to see this capacity for the appreciation of views and sketches on 
 the part of the Burmans, for the organ of such appreciation is absolutely a wanting in all 
 the people of India, with whom we are accustomed to deal. 
 
 The fact is singular ; but I believe all who have lived in India will bear testimony to it, 
 that to natives of India, of whatever class or caste, Mussulman, Hindoo, or Parsee, " Aryan, 
 or Tamulian," unless they have had a special training, our European paintings, prints, 
 drawings, and photographs, plain or coloured, if they are landscapes, are absolutely un- 
 intelligible. If portraits, they may know them to represent humanity ; but the most 
 striking likeness they scarcely ever recognise. Maps rarely can be made intelligible to 
 
 * Literally, Governor of the Smiths. 
 
90 OUR RESIDENCE AT THE CAPITAL. 
 
 them. I have been asked in good English by a Parsee, who looked over my shoulder at a 
 print of Kensington Palace, whether it did not represent a steamboat. A learned Pundit 
 has been known to inquire, on being shown a print of the Winner of the Derby, " Is that 
 London Khas?" (Royal London.) The memory of every Anglo-Indian will suggest such 
 anecdotes. As to rough pencil sketches, they convey to the natives of India as little in- 
 telligible meaning as the graven edicts of Asoka did to the world before James Prinsep. 
 
 This defect is the more strange, because found so universally among those Indian races, 
 whose features and language seem to class them as kindred with our German ancestry, 
 whilst among the Indo-Chinese nations, so far as my experience goes, including the 
 people of Burma and Aracan and ruder tribes of our eastern frontier, the faculty of appre- 
 ciating the meaning and accuracy of drawings and resemblances in portraiture, even when 
 of a very sketchy character, is never altogether absent. Of the objects and meaning of a 
 map also they have generally a very fair idea.* 
 
 I present this to the ethnographers as an interesting, distinctive feature, which I do not 
 remember to have seen noticed before. 
 
 A great deal of rain has fallen since our arrival, before which it had been much wanted, 
 and the people generally couple the two facts together. The King half-jestingly observed, 
 that he hoped we would stay a good while longer, as rain was still needed, f 
 
 In the afternoon Mr. Camaretta came to say that his Majesty desired to confer on the 
 Envoy a title of honour, and a chain of twelve cords, in addition to the tsalwe bestowed on 
 the 13th. Major Phayre replied that he would consider the propriety of accepting such 
 favours. 
 
 September 17th. — This was the day appointed for our visit to the Ein-she-men, or heir- 
 apparent. 
 
 About eight o'clock we embarked on the lake, accompanied by the Woondouk and a 
 few minor officials, and crossed over to the southern central gate of the city, nearly opposite 
 the Residency, where elephants awaited us, and, as escort, the fifteen men of our 8th 
 Irregular Cavalry, there being no need to expose the Europeans again to the hot sun. 
 The Envoy went as before in his tonjon. 
 
 We took the directest road to the Prince's residence ; but as it stands on the north side 
 of the palace, we had to go half round the latter. The house is the largest in the city, and 
 is the only one outside the palace to which is conceded the distinction of a triple roof. 
 
 On this occasion, excepting in the immediate vicinity of the Prince's house, no 
 Burmese troops lined the street, but a strong party of the Madeya regiment, which formed 
 
 * When employed in 1853 in exploring the mountain-passes between Aracan and Burma, I had 
 occasion to send an Aracanese soldier to bring me an account of an alternative route which I had not time 
 to visit. He brought back not only a most intelligent account of the route, but a very intelligible sketch 
 of it, showing all the streams and water-sheds. I doubt if a Sepoy in the whole seventy-two regiments 
 of Bengal Native Infantry could be found to do the like. 
 
 This soldier, Ongthen, I am glad to say, is now a commissioned officer in the Pegu light infantry. 
 
 t There were great rains, and the river rose to an unusual height, in 1824, the first year of the war. 
 Hence that flood was called the Kald Ye, or "Foreigners' Water." So some vague popular superstition 
 seems to connect our presence with unusual rain. 
 
OUR RESIDENCE AT THE CAPITAL. 9 1 
 
 the guard at the Residency, marched in single file on either side of our procession. In fact, 
 the great body of the militia, which had been mustered from all quarters to produce an 
 effective reception for us on the 13th, had been by this time gladly dismissed to their 
 homes. 
 
 The Envoy took his tonjon close up to the gate, and the rest of the officers advanced as 
 near as the throng would allow the elephants to approach. We then dismounted and were 
 met by one of the Prince's Woons, who descended from a yoom, or court-house, outside the 
 gate. The Woondouk then said, " Please to say we have arrived, and open the gate." 
 The Woon, a stout, heavy-visaged man, looked as if he did not understand what was said, 
 and gave no reply, but composedly chewed his betel, and surveyed our line of people with 
 the air of one who must not appear to be in a hurry to be civil. At last he said slowly, 
 " Have all come ? Then open the gate." The large wooden gates swung round, and the 
 Prince's house was displayed to us ; an extensive structure, somewhat in the monastic style> 
 but not highly adorned, standing in the middle of a large palisaded enclosure. The sound 
 of music came from the interior, and numbers of people were looking at us from the 
 windows or verandas. Two small guns were mounted on neat field-carriages in front of 
 the house, and between them a thing like a six-dozen chest, with one side out, intended for 
 a buggy, roughly gilt, and mounted on gilt wheels. 
 
 We passed through a line of musketeers, in green jackets, to the south side of the 
 house, where was the entrance-ladder ; and here, as had been agreed on, we took off our 
 shoes. Ascending the ladder (which was dirty, and sprinkled with half-smoked cheroots) 
 we were led along verandas, where dancing-girls were performing, into a large and lofty 
 hall, so dark that we could scarcely see each other till some time had elapsed. It was 
 densely crowded with people, some of whom were in a sort of uniform, with very large 
 broad-pointed swords. The walls and pillars of the hall appeared to be quite plain, without 
 colour or gilding. 
 
 We sat on a carpet in the centre aisle, about five-and-thirty feet from the inner end- 
 wall, in which, about five feet from the ground, there was a panelled door, through the 
 chinks in which brighter light appeared. 
 
 Pawn and drinking-water were as usual placed before us. Quarter of an hour passed, 
 and we were becoming somewhat tired of the silence, darkness, and constrained position, 
 when the panelled door slid back and disclosed the Prince and his Queen (as she is called) 
 taking their seats on the raised floor of the inner apartment, in immediate contact with the 
 doorway. 
 
 Seen from the dark foreground, with a strong light from the inner apartment con- 
 centrated on them, and framed, as it were, in the doorway, whilst they sat absolutely 
 immovable, the effect was quite that of a picture, and a very curious picture it was. 
 
 The Prince, in a brocaded dress and close-fitting jewelled mitre completely concealing 
 the hair, and with a countenance of marked Mongolian character unrelieved by any 
 moustache, made on us a much less pleasing impression than his royal brother.* 
 
 * Be it said that we may have had a little prejudice, and that the dress, constrained attitude, con- 
 centrated light, with perhaps a little discomposure on his highness's part at this time, combined to 
 
92 OUR RESIDENCE AT THE CAPITAL. 
 
 The Princess was dressed somewhat after the fashion of her sister-Queen at the palace- 
 reception, but her cap was more becoming and left the jewelled ears exposed. Her dress 
 was not so well made as Her Majesty's, fitting badly, and having the scolloped wings and 
 capes more prononcds and obtrusive. She was, however, a graceful and modest-looking 
 girl, of not more than twenty, if so much, with a pleasing and intelligent expression, and 
 seemed a little abashed and scarcely at home in her cumbrous robes. I think that the 
 recollection of Beauty and the Beast must have risen in the minds of all our party. 
 
 This young lady is her husband's half-sister, but is not full sister to the Queen. She 
 bears the same appellation, which we render " Queen " in the case of the latter. 
 
 Their entrance was followed by a stupid pause of several minutes, but seeming to us 
 vastly longer, during which the most absolute silence was preserved, as if the assembly 
 were engaged in the worship of the couple before us. 
 
 After we had been kept waiting for a time sufficient to vindicate the Prince's dignity, 
 one of his Woons deemed it necessary to attract His Highncss's attention to the scene 
 before him. He, therefore, crawled to the front, as if he were stalking a deer, and looked 
 up to the doorway for a sign. The Prince apparently deigned not to take any notice of 
 him, but after a time half-turned round and motioned towards an official, a little in advance 
 of our party on the right, to begin. This person took from a stand on which the Envoy 
 had deposited it, the list of presents from the Governor-General to the Prince. He at the 
 same time produced a preliminary address written on a black note-book (or parabeik.) 
 This he commenced reading, informing His Highness that the Envoy, who had arrived at 
 His Majesty's court, had brought presents for the Ein-sh<5-men. In doing so, he repre- 
 sented these presents as "respectfully offered " by the English Ruler. 
 
 At the Palace a similar preliminary address had been delivered ; but as the official on 
 that occasion did not read from a book, but spoke rapidly, mumbling his words, though the 
 Envoy had a suspicion that the forbidden terms had been used, he did not feel sufficiently 
 assured to be justified in interrupting the proceedings.* He had, however, warned the 
 Woondouk on the point. On the present occasion there was no question about the fact. 
 Major Phayre at once informed the Woondouk in an undertone that the reader must 
 correct his phraseology. As there was some boggling about this, the Envoy half-rose 
 from his seat, and said, " I shall leave the hall, unless this alteration is at once made." 
 The Woondouk then said to the reading official, " These are royal presents from a King, 
 and you must not use that word." The official then re-read the address with corrected 
 phraseology, apparently very nervous and tremulous under the rebuke, poor fellow ! 
 
 During this little scene, the Prince, though remaining immovably still, seemed by his 
 expression to be a good deal excited, and the perspiration burst out visibly on his forehead. 
 
 make our impression of him on this occasion unfavourable. When we saw him afterwards, under more 
 easy circumstances, much of this impression was removed. 
 
 * The use of such terms, implying inferior relation on the part of the British ruler, had been objected 
 to in the letter brought by the Burmese envoys proceeding on a mission to Calcutta in the end of 1854, 
 and had caused their long detention at Rangoon until the objectionable phrase had been altered by a 
 reference to Amarapooia. 
 
OUR RESIDENCE AT THE CAPITAL. 93 
 
 The three usual questions were then put and answered; presents were distributed, the 
 Prince rose, the pretty Princess followed, and the sliding-doors shut them from our view. 
 
 We then rose also and took our departure. Altogether it was a dull ceremonial, 
 wanting the royal circumstance and barbaresque splendour which gave such interest to the 
 audience at the palace. But we were scarcely in the hall more than twenty minutes. 
 The Princess formed the redeeming feature in the scene. 
 
 Passing into the court we went to look at the guns which stood in front of the house. 
 They were of iron and old, but polished up, and apparently of European make. The 
 Woondouk, who evidently thinks that a deviation from truth, when it tends to exalt the 
 King, the nation, and the country, is a prime virtue, told Major Phayre that these guns had 
 been cast in Amarapoora, and not very long ago. " Looking at their muzzles," says the 
 Envoy, " the deep honeycombing told their age as surely as the wrinkles on a cow's horn 
 denote her years." 
 
 We then adjourned to a shed in the enclosure where refreshments were prepared, 
 which we made a show of tasting. The Prince's Woon made an apology for the breach of 
 propriety in the preliminary address, which he ascribed to the man's being so habituated to 
 the other expression, though the right one was used in the written formula before him. 
 Major Phayre, however, told the Woon that the man ought to be reproved, which he was 
 assured should be done. 
 
 As we mounted to take our departure, the mahouts, as it seemed intentionally, tried to 
 discomfit our horsemen by making the elephants trumpet This desperately frightened the 
 suwars' horses, but luckily no man was unseated, which we found would have been a great 
 source of gratulation to the Burmans. One horse, however, was injured by the job of a 
 lance in the hurly-burly ; and the elephants taking fright in turn ran back upon the mob, 
 and routed them. The naked lictors* seeing this uproar deemed it necessary to bestir 
 themselves, and began to whack about in all directions with their long rattans. At last 
 getting clear of the tumult we returned by the way we had come. 
 
 September 18th. — To-day we had a singular visitor at the residency. This was Ma- 
 phoon, the daughter of Shwe-maong, the "Homo hirsutus" described and depicted in 
 Crawford's narrative, where a portrait of her, as a young child, also appears. Not expect- 
 ing such a visitor, one started and exclaimed involuntarily as there entered what at first 
 sight seemed an absolute realization in the flesh of the dog-headed Anubis. 
 
 The whole of Maphoon's face was more or less covered with hair. On a part of the 
 cheek, and between the nose and mouth, this was confined to a short down, but over all 
 the rest of the face was a thick silky hair of a brown colour, paling about the nose and 
 chin, four or five inches long. At the alae of the nose, under the eye, and on the cheek- 
 
 * These lictors are generally, if not always, convicts, whose sentence has been commuted. " Often 
 the pain of death is changed into perpetual infamy ; the criminal is then branded on the face, his offence 
 is written in indelible characters on his breast, and he is doomed to act as a satellite or executioner." 
 (Sangermano, p. 66.) Eeaders of Mrs. Judson's narrative will remember the " Spotted face " of that 
 affecting history. 
 
94 OUK RESIDENCE AT THE CAHTAL. 
 
 bone, this was very fully developed, but it was in and on the ear that it was most extraor- 
 dinary. Except the extreme upper tip, no part of the ear was visible. All the rest was 
 filled and veiled by a large mass of silky hair, growing apparently out of every part of the 
 external organ, and hanging in a dependent lock to a length of eight or ten inches. The 
 hair over her forehead was brushed so as to blend with the hair of the head, the latter being 
 dressed (as usual with her countrywomen) a la Chinoise. It was not so thick as to conceal 
 altogether the forehead. 
 
 The nose, densely covered with hair as no animal's is that I know of, and with long 
 fine locks curving out and pendent like the wisps of a fine Skye terrier's coat, had a most 
 strange appearance. The beard was pale in colour, and about four inches in length, seem- 
 ingly very soft and silky. 
 
 Poor Maphoon's manners were good and modest, her voice soft and feminine, and her 
 expression mild and not unpleasing, after the first instinctive repulsion was overcome. Her 
 appearance rather suggested the idea of a pleasant-looking woman masquerading than that 
 of anything brutal. This discrimination, however, was very difficult to preserve in sketch- 
 ing her likeness, a task which devolved on me to-day in Mr. Grant's absence. On an 
 after-visit, however, Mr. Grant made a portrait of her, which was generally acknowledged 
 to be most successful.* 
 
 Her neck, bosom, and arms, appeared to be covered with a fine pale down, scarcely 
 visible in some lights. She made a move as if to take off her upper clothing, but reluc- 
 tantly, and we prevented it. 
 
 Her husband and two boys accompanied her. The elder boy, about four or five years 
 old, had nothing abnormal about him. The youngest, who was fourteen months old and 
 still at the breast, was evidently taking after his mother. There was little hair on the 
 head, but the child's ear was full of long silky floss, and it could boast a moustache and 
 beard of pale silky down that would have cheered the heart of many a cornet In fact, the 
 appearance of the child agrees almost exactly with what Mr. Crawfurd says of Maphoon 
 herself as an infant. 
 
 This child is thus the third in descent exhibiting this strange peculiarity ; and in this 
 third generation, as in the two preceding, this peculiarity has appeared only in one 
 individual. 
 
 Maphoon has the same dental peculiarity also that her father had, — the absence of the 
 canine teeth and grinders, the back part of the gums presenting merely a hard ridge. Still 
 she chews pawn like her neighbours. 
 
 Mr. Camaretta tells some story of an Italian wishing to marry her and take her to 
 Europe, which was not allowed. Should the great Barnum hear of her, he would not be 
 so easily thwarted. 
 
 According to the Woondouk, the King offered a reward to any man who would marry 
 
 * Maphoon had a strong resemblance to the full-length portrait of her father in Mr. Crawfurd's book. 
 The engraving of herself as a child on the same page is evidently a failure. It represents an old bearded 
 man, not a hairy infant. 
 
■■■■■■^{■■gl 
 
 THE HAIRY WOMAN 
 
 ■ 
 
. v ::•••: • 
 
 • • • • 
 
 •*. j i «r •*. •••• •** 
 
OUE RESIDENCE AT THE CAPITAL. 95 
 
 her, bat it was long before any one was found bold enough or avaricious enough to venture. 
 Her father Shwe-maong was murdered by robbers many years ago.* 
 
 In the evening very good fireworks were exhibited for our amusement. Fountains 
 discharging sky-rockets and curling serpents were most numerous ; among the best was a 
 sort of maypole hung round with minor fireworks, which went off in a blaze and roll of 
 smoke, leaving disclosed a tree hung with quivering flowers of purple flame, evidently 
 intended to represent the purple Kachnar (Bauhinia) of the Burmese forests. A similar 
 discharge disclosed, when the veil of smoke had passed away, an inscription in blue flame, 
 standing out as if in air against the darkness. The letters were distinctly and beautifully 
 formed, and the effect was most satisfactory of its kind. The inscription, however, instead 
 of being a welcome to the foreigners as it might have been with us, was a sort of " God 
 save the King." 
 
 September 19th— The King has invited Major Phayre to a private conference on the 
 21st, and laughingly told Mr. Spears that the Envoy might bring any of the gentlemen 
 with him, except Mr. Grant ; for his Majesty objects strongly to sitting for his portrait. 
 During the audience on the 13th, I had made certain notes and sketches inside my cocked 
 hat, from which I afterwards compiled a rough view of the hall with their Majesties 
 enthroned. This Camaretta had shown to the King, who desired him to assure Capt. Yule 
 that his Majesty certainly had not crooked eyes. 
 
 September 20th. — I started in company with Mr. Oldham, who was bound up the 
 Irawadi to visit the coal which exists about seventy miles above the capital. 
 
 An account of our journey will be found in another section. I was absent from the 
 Residency till the evening of the 26th, and Mr. Oldham for some days longer. 
 
 On the 21st, Major Phayre by appointment had an interview with the King. Mr. 
 Grant accompanied him to the palace to take a portrait of the white elephant. The Woon- 
 douk conducted them to the elephant's pavilion, which seems to be habitually used as a 
 waiting-room for visitors to the court. The following is the Envoy's account of his 
 interview : — 
 
 " We were led towards the west side of the palace ; and on coming near a wicket gate, 
 which apparently led into a garden, I saw a large assemblage of people under a circular 
 temporary building, styled a Mandat, where music and dancing were going on. This was 
 the assembled court ; and, as the King was present, I took off my shoes, and proceeded on 
 with the Woondouk, Mr. Spears, and two or three Burmese officers. On entering the 
 assembly I perceived the King seated on a kind of a sofa placed in a room raised several 
 feet above the level of the Mandat. I was conducted forward and placed amongst some of 
 
 * Some Albinoes also came to show themselves at the Residency. Dr. Bayfield and Capt. Hannay 
 allude to xanthous individuals or families in the neighbourhood of Ava, but I think only from hearsay. 
 The persons of whom I speak were however evidently Albinoes, and there was nothing to indicate their 
 being of different race from their neighbours. 
 
 It is worthy of notice that Albinoes appear to be not unfrequently met with in Siam and the Malay 
 states, as well as in Burma. I do not recollect ever to have seen one in India. (See a paper by Captain 
 Low in Trans. Royal As. Soc. vol. iii. p. 189.) 
 
96 OUR RESIDENCE AT THE CAPITAL. 
 
 the ministers, who were situated a little below where the King was seated. There was a 
 large assembly of people, all except the dancers being seated on the ground. Outside the 
 building were guards dressed in red jackets, with red papier-mache helmets, and muskets 
 with the butts resting on the ground between their legs, they also squatted on the ground. 
 There were eight couples of men and women dancing. The King did not speak to me, and 
 shortly after I had entered he retired. In a few minutes I was informed that the King 
 wished to see me elsewhere, and I was taken round the building where the festival was 
 going on to another room. Here were guards also in a lower verandah. On ascending to 
 the room, I saw the King half reclining on a sofa at one end of it. He was dressed in the 
 ordinary garb of the country, a silk putsho, or waist-cloth of gay colours, a white cotton 
 jacket reaching a little below the hips, and a single fillet of book-muslin round his head. 
 At the other extremity were some large imitation lotus-flowers in a vase, nearly behind 
 which Father Abbona was seated on the ground, and his legs brought under him as well as 
 an European can accomplish that feat On the King's left, at a little distance, were some 
 half-dozen of his sons, of all ages up to sixteen years, crouching on the ground with their 
 chins touching it. A band of girls in fantastic court-dresses were in an ante-room playing 
 ' soft music ' on stringed instruments. On taking my seat on the ground near the lotus 
 vases, I perceived that some half-dozen officials, one of the Atwen-woons, and others, had 
 followed me, and with a few pages, who collected and sat towards the end of the room, the 
 audience was anything but private. After we sat down the King paused a moment or 
 two, and then held up his hand. The music stopped. I was seated about twenty-five to 
 thirty feet from him. He told me to look at the lotus vases. T did so, and the buds 
 which were closed up suddenly expanded, and out of one of them flew a solitary sparrow. 
 The King smiled, and looked as if he expected me to be surprised and pleased ; so I 
 expressed my admiration, and one of the sitters-by said, ' Each bud had a bird imprisoned, 
 but they managed to escape, all but this one.' 
 
 " Conversation, or rather question and answer, then commenced, which I will record as 
 nearly as possible in the order of their recurrence. 
 
 " King. ' Do you know Burmese writing or literature ?' * 
 
 " Envoy. ' I do somewhat, your Majesty.' 
 
 " K. 'I have heard of you now for three years. Have you read the ' Mengula- 
 Thoot?" 
 
 " E. 'I have, your Majesty.' 
 
 " K. ' Do you know the meaning of it ?' 
 
 " E. 'I do. I have read the Burmese interpretation of it't 
 
 " K. ' How many precepts does it contain?' 
 
 "E. 'Thirty-eight.' 
 
 " K. ' Do you remember them ?' 
 
 * This is a Sermon of Gautama's, containing thirty-eight rules of life, or a summary of beatitude. It 
 is one of the first lessons taught to a Burmese youth. (7'.) Mengula-Thoot is, I suppose, Mangala Sutra, 
 the Auspicious or Fortunate Discourse. A translation of it will be found in Sangcrmano, ch. xvi. 
 
 t The original is in Pali. 
 
OUR RESIDENCE AT THE CAPITAL. 97 
 
 " E. 'I am sorry to say, your Majesty, it is so long since I learnt the Mengula 
 Tlioot, that I cannot repeat it now.' The King here repeated some of the precepts of this 
 discourse against pride, anger, evil associates, and the like. He continued for full five 
 minutes or more, commenting on and enforcing the rules contained in the sermon. 
 
 " Father Abbona. ' What your Majesty has been pleased to say is just the same as 
 what is contained in our Kyasatsa (Scriptures);' {and then addressing me), — 
 " ' It is what our Bible says.' 
 
 " E. ' Certainly, it is in accordance with the Bible.' I here took an opportunity of 
 saying to the Woondouk in an undertone, I hoped His Majesty would not be offended at 
 any mistakes I made in forms of address and speech to him. This being repeated by the 
 Woondouk, the King said, ' Oh, don't be afraid, I give you permission just to speak as you 
 find most convenient to yourself!' 
 
 " K. ' Have you, your suite and escort, everything comfortable about you ?' 
 " E. ' From the day we entered your Majesty's territory, everything has been done 
 to make us happy. I am particularly obliged to the Woondouk for the trouble he has 
 taken.' 
 
 " K. ' Very well. I wish to be friendly with the English, and have always been so : 
 have I not?' 
 
 " E. ' Certainly you have.' 
 
 " K. ' Did I not withdraw my troops as soon as I had the power to do so, and when 
 the Talains were starving below, did I not allow food to go down to them ?'* 
 " E. ' Certainly, your Majesty did.' 
 
 " K. ' Well, then, our friendship is complete ; what more can be wanting ? ' 
 " E. ' With your Majesty's permission, I will state what is wanting according to our 
 western ideas.' 
 
 " K. 'Certainly, say on.' 
 
 " E. ' All the great western nations, the English, the French, and others, hold that 
 when there is friendship between two nations, it is proper to cement it by a written treaty. 
 That, your Majesty, is what is now wanting between your Majesty and the English 
 ruler.' 
 
 " K. ' But if a treaty is made, there must be mutual advantage ?' 
 " E. ' Certainly, your Majesty. I would not propose it, were it not to be for your 
 Majesty's benefit also.' 
 
 " (I did not clearly hear the next question. Frequently the King had his mouth full 
 of pan, and I was obliged to refer to the Woondouk for explanation of what he said. It 
 was intimated that the King wished to be informed of the benefit to himself of a treaty.) 
 " E. * As long as there is no treaty, the English ruler will not permit gunpowder and 
 
 * The King here alluded to the Burmese troops before Prome having been withdrawn, or retreating 
 to the capital about 25th December, 1852, and to the partial importation of rice into Prome during the 
 scarcity of 1853. I did not consider it necessary or advisable to dispute either assertion of the King, as 
 it may be conceded that he personally never committed or authorized any positively hostile act. Rice 
 was allowed to come in for a time, but was stopped when it began to come too fast. {!'.) 
 
 o 
 
98 OUR RESIDENCE AT THE CAPITAL. 
 
 warlike-stores to pass ; when there is a treaty, his confidence, agreeably to our western 
 ideas, will be perfect, and he will then allow them to pass.' 
 
 " K. ' I have heard a great deal of you, and that you are wise and well-disposed. I 
 should not have taken the same pains to receive every one ; I should have done according 
 to custom. You have commenced well. But in a man's life, and in every transaction, 
 there is a beginning, a middle, and an end.* Let your middle and ending be as good as 
 your beginning. Remember, there must be ajnutual advantage, or no treaty could be 
 proper, and such as to satisfy both countries. ; If I were to sanction a treaty discreditable 
 to me, I should lose my reputation in history ; just as a thousand years hence your 
 name would be stained, if you did anything to the damage of your country. Ponder upon 
 this.'t 
 
 " E. 'I am fully sensible of the truth of what your Majesty urges. A treaty, which 
 I would propose, would be for the mutual advantage of the two nations ; without that 
 it could have no stability. If I can succeed in persuading your Majesty to conclude such 
 a treaty, then I feel that my middle and my ending will be as successful as your Majesty 
 has said my commencement has been.' 
 
 " K. ' Very well. Ponder on what I have said.' 
 
 " E. 'I will, your Majesty.' 
 
 " K. ' Have the newspapers arrived lately ? ' 
 
 " E. < They have.' 
 
 " K. 'What is going on?' 
 
 " I did not at first understand that he referred to the war in Europe, but finding he 
 did, I replied. 
 
 " E. ' They are still fighting, and matters are much the same as at the date of the 
 last intelligence.' 
 
 " K. « Will you be able to take Sebastopol ? ' 
 
 " E. ' Certainly, your Majesty. No nation can stand against the English and 
 French united. The Russians must submit. The English have a vast navy, and the 
 French a great army. They are s ure to conquer.' 
 
 " K. ' That is what I hear. How long will the war last? ' 
 
 " E. ' Probably a year yet.' 
 
 " K. ' Why, it has lasted three years already I ' 
 
 " E. ' Not quite, your Majesty. It is not more than eighteen months since the 
 English and French came into the field.' 
 
 " K. ' But the Russians and Turks were fighting before that?' 
 
 " E. * Yes ; and it was because Russia was oppressing Turkey that the English and 
 French came to help the latter.' 
 
 * The King illustrated this by running his fingers along the handle of his dha or sword ,of state, 
 which was on a stand before him. (P.) 
 
 t This "ponder" appears to be a favourite Burman formula for putting off a decision. ThusJudson 
 relates that after a conversation on religion with Moungzah, a very intelligent Burman minister, at part 
 ing, the latter remarked, " This is a deep and difficult subject. Do you consider further, teacher, and [ 
 also will consider." Life, i. 251. (Y.) 
 
OUR RESIDENCE AT THE CAPITAL. 99 
 
 " K. ' What part docs Austria take ? ' 
 
 " E. ' Austria is neutral.' 
 
 " K. 'And Persia?' 
 
 " E. ' Persia, I believe, is neutral too.' 
 
 " K. ' Are you at peace with all the other nations of Europe ? ' 
 
 " E. ' We are, your Majesty.' 
 
 " K. ' I am glad to hear it; I am averse to war. I would like to have a steamer of 
 my own which I could send to different countries. There would be no objection to this. 
 I would not communicate with any country at war with you.' 
 
 " E. 'I believe, your Majesty, there would be no objection.' 
 
 " K. ' Did you receive the marble pagoda I sent you ? ' 
 
 " E. ' I did, your Majesty, and have brought a singing-bird box as a token of my 
 thanks.' I then delivered the box, and having reserved, to present to the mother of the 
 Queen, one of the diamond rings, I here presented it, but not in the name of the Governor- 
 General, as the lady did not appear. 
 
 " K. 'I shall be glad if you can come up here again, but with fewer attendants, to 
 stay for a few days.' 
 
 " E. ' I am much obliged to your Majesty, and will represent to the most noble the 
 Governor-General what you have said.' 
 
 " K. ' There is a man in the gun-foundry at Calcutta, who I hear will be willing to 
 take service with me ; is there any objection to this ? ' 
 
 " E. ' I am not aware of any objection. He would not be prevented coming, if he 
 wished to do so.' 
 
 " K. ' I hear the painter, (Mr. C. Grant,) is here. Would he like to come in ? ' 
 
 " E. * He is engaged, drawing the white elephant, and no doubt would like to see 
 your Majesty.' 
 
 " K. 'I am going to bestow on you a ring, which you will find very curious.' 
 
 " A ring, half sapphire and (apparently) half topaz, was brought in and presented 
 to me. 
 
 " K. {To Mr. Spears) 'Do you know any one I could engage to take charge of my 
 ruby mines, so as to point out where they are accumulated in the soil ?' 
 
 " Mr. Spears. ' In our countries, your Majesty, thei-e are no rubies, so that we have 
 no one experienced in such matters.' 
 
 " E. 'A geologist would probably be of use for that object.' 
 
 " K. 'I should like to have such a person. Has the stone-teacher (Professor Oldham) 
 gone to the coal mines ? ' 
 
 " E. ' He has, your Majesty.' 
 
 " K. f You may have all the coal there is collected there, and I will have it brought 
 down for the steamers.' I expressed my obligation. Mr. Grant having arrived, was 
 asked about his drawing of the white elephant, and one by the King's own artist was pro- 
 duced, which was a complete failure. Mr. Grant then received a gold cup from the King. 
 
 " K. (Looking laughingly at a very thin young man, who was fanning him with a long 
 
100 OUR RESIDENCE AT THE CAPITAL. 
 
 palm-leaf fan.)* ' I should wish very much to have a model of a human skeleton made 
 of wood, and so arranged that the actions of the joints in sitting and rising should be 
 shown.' 
 
 " E. * That would not be difficult to procure, and it shall have my attention.' 
 
 " K. ' I will now order in some refreshment, and everything has been prepared 
 with great care.' Some trays of cakes and sweetmeats were now brought in, which 1 
 partook of, and the King walked up to where I was sitting and recommended one or two 
 dishes. He then returned to his sofa and retired, saying — ' Whenever you wish to see 
 me, inform the Woondouk.' 
 
 " During the interview, which lasted for more than an hour, the King behaved with 
 great courtesy. One of his children, about eighteen months old apparently, came out two 
 or three times without any clothes on and climbed up on the couch. The young sons 
 who were in attendance now and then lighted his cheroot for him, and gave him water 
 to drink when he required it." 
 
 September 2-ith. — To-day, agreeably to previous arrangement, the Envoy accompanied 
 by Dr. Forsyth, Major Allan, and Mr. Edwards, paid a visit of ceremony to the four 
 Woongyis, and to old Moung Pathee, the Nan-ma-dau Woon or comptroller of the 
 Queen Mother's Palace, commonly known among us as the Dalla Woon, from the post he 
 held as Governor of that district at the commencement of the war. The visit was paid to 
 him as having been head of the embassy to Calcutta, and from a personal kindly feeling 
 towards him. 
 
 The first visit paid was to the Magwe Mengyi, now considered the most influential 
 among the Woongyis, as he certainly is the most intellectual. He met the Envoy at the 
 foot of the outer steps and handed him up into his receiving-room, on which evidently 
 much care had been expended in preparing it for the visitors. The floor was laid with 
 carpets, and chairs for the party were set at a long table in the middle. A large silk 
 curtain divided this outer room from the interior or women's apartment. This curtain 
 was partly drawn up at one corner, and there all the ladies of the family were seated on 
 carpets. A number of respectable and well-dressed Burmans of middle age were also 
 sitting about the room, and the outer veranda was crowded with people seated in the 
 posture of respect, evidently neighbours who had come in to witness the meeting. 
 
 Shortly after the arrival of the visitors, breakfast was brought in. Two strips of long- 
 cloth were laid as a table-cloth, and plates, knives, and forks, cups, saucers, and tea were 
 provided in English fashion, a native of India who had formerly been an officer's servant 
 having been got hold of to act as butler. 
 
 At first, bread and butter, muffins, tarts, &c, were displayed, and the servants were 
 bringing more food of the sjme kind, when the Woongyi called out cheerily, " Come, 
 come, they know English dishes well enough, let us have Burmese dishes now." .Sweet- 
 
 * This servant, it appears, the King is fond of jesting with about his personal appearance. He sent 
 a message to Mr. Grant, requesting the man's likeness might be taken without his jacket, as His Majesty 
 wished to show the Queen what a fat servant she had. Mr. Grant received a hint to give him plenty of 
 ribs in the drawing. (P.) 
 
OUR RESIDENCE AT THE CAPITAL. '. , .10J, j 
 
 meats and dainties of various kinds were then brought in profusion, and when the whole 
 was spread fifty-seven different dishes were counted. 
 
 During breakfast, at the request of Major Phayre, the Woongyi's wife, a lady much 
 past the middle age, was requested to come forward and take a chair. A chair was 
 accordingly placed for her near the Envoy, but the old lady, who had by no means the 
 easy manners of her husband, desired that it might be moved further off before she would 
 sit down. Even then she did not appear to be very comfortable, for she immediately 
 tucked in her scanty robes and doubled her legs under her on the chair. She wore 
 several very handsome rings, and among them two large diamonds of apparently great 
 value. 
 
 The Woongyi conversed readily and jocosely, beginning with the usual Burmese 
 questions as to the ages of the party, as to their being married or single, &c, and ex- 
 pressing good-humoured surprise that neither the Envoy nor Major Allan had ever been 
 married. " When you do marry," said he, " I hope you'll bring your wives up here." 
 
 After the breakfast had been removed, the usual Burmese dessert was brought in, 
 consisting of trays with little gold and silver dishes in them containing betelnut, pan, 
 chunam, pickled tea, salted ginger in small strips, fried garlick, walnuts without the 
 shells, roasted groundnuts, &c. The Burmese at the table seemed to relish the betel and 
 pickled tea much more than any of the preceding delicacies, as did old Camaretta also.* 
 The entertainment wound up with cheroots. 
 
 Major Phayre made an attempt to move, but was requested to stop a little longer by 
 the Woongyi, who evidently intended to be as polite and kind as possible. The visit had 
 extended to an hour and a half before they actually got off, the Envoy having first pre- 
 sented a gold snuff-box and some English stuff. 
 
 The house was of timber and seemed spacious, but ill-built. This is accounted for by 
 the hurry with which most of the buildings in the city were reconstructed after the 
 revolution. In common with the houses of all the other Woongyis, it opened from the 
 road which runs along the south side of the Palace stockade. 
 
 The next official visited was the Mein-loung Mengyi, who takes his title from a 
 district to the north of Ava, a toothless but burly old gentleman of about sixty years of 
 age. He had not the unconstrained manners of the Magwe Mengyi, expressing in some- 
 what forced and awkward speeches his pleasure at receiving the party. The old lady, his 
 wife, was more natural and emphatic. She sat down close to the table, and as a breakfast 
 similar to that at the Magwe Mengyi's was spread, she from time to time recommended 
 certain dishes to the notice of the visitors. Not being au fait at the practice of shaking 
 
 * The hlapet or pickled tea, made up with a little oil, salt, and garlick, or assafcetida, is eaten in small 
 quantities by the Burmese after dinner as we eat cheese. They say, as reasonably as our old saws do of 
 cheese, that it promotes digestion, and they cannot live in comfort without it. Col. Burney mentions 
 that the Burmese resident proceeding to Calcutta in 1830 took a large supply of hlapet with him, as a 
 necessary of life not to be had where he was going. (MS. Journal.) Hlapet is also partaken of on 
 many ceremonial occasions, and on the conclusion of lawsuits ; the bill of costs being always rounded off 
 with a charge for " pickled tea," as a Calcutta agent's account used to be rounded off with a charge for 
 " Postages." 
 
h) m 2 ; /.'•, «,«' OUR RESIDENCE AT TIIE CAriTAL. 
 
 hands, as the Envoy was leaving she put her hand on his shoulder in a very friendly way, 
 saying she had received much pleasure from the visit 
 
 The two remaining Woongyis, the Myadoung Mengyi and the Pakhan Mengyi, were 
 visited in succession. The last was, till the present King's accession, a poongyi or monk. 
 Immediately after the revolution, the King summoned him from his cell, and at once 
 appointed him Atwen-Woon, and subsequently a Woongyi, a promotion which is unusual 
 without having first gone through the lower grades of office. His wife, a woman of 
 about two-and-thirty years of age, had been one of Tharawadi's Queens. With her two 
 sisters and her mother she sat at table during breakfast, (the fourth breakfast). They 
 were really lady-like and self-possessed, fairer than the generality of the Burmese, and of 
 delicate and graceful figures, though not pretty. 
 
 They wore the usual tamein or narrow petticoat of gorgeously striped silk, polka 
 jackets of thin white muslin, and ornaments of a brilliance which would have been the 
 envy of the ladies of a more civilized region. Their oar-cylinders were gold, but instead 
 of being open tubes, as is the case with those commonly worn at the capital, the front was 
 closed and set with one large cut diamond, ruby, or emerald, surrounded by smaller 
 brilliants. The necklace consisted of a narrow chain of gold, plain, or set with pearls, and 
 bearing table diamonds in two rows, one fixed and the other pendant. They wore also 
 very handsome rings, among which were remarked rubies of great size. 
 
 The old mother, a very talkative lady who had resided many years at Rangoon, and 
 professed, in consequence, an intimate acquaintance with English customs, is the widow of 
 Moung Shwe Doung, formerly the Woon, or minister, of the present chief Queen, when 
 Princess Royal. Her reminiscences extended back to the residence of Jan-ken-ning 
 (Major John Canning) at Rangoon. 
 
 Among the ladies seated on the ground were two strongly resembling one another, and 
 with the receding forehead which seems to mark all the descendants of Alompra. These 
 were daughters of the Mekhara Men,* an uncle of King Tharawadi, often mentioned in 
 Colonel Burney's journals for his interest in European science. Another lady of the same 
 party, of very fair and feminine aspect, was pointed out as the wife of the Tsaub-wa, or Shan 
 Prince of Mond She had been married from the Palace, and was now at the capital on 
 " leave of absence." Several of these ladies were therefore closely connected with the 
 court, and the visitors had thus an opportunity of seeing the highest class of Burmese in 
 their family circle. The impression on the whole party was a pleasing one. 
 ■ The old Nan-ma-dau Woon was next visited. The Woondouk ceased to accompany 
 the Envoy, it not being consistent with his dignity, it would appear, as a member of the 
 second order of the Hlwot-dau, to visit this venerable minister, although the latter wears 
 the Tsalwd of a Woongyi. 
 
 * Or Mek-ka-ya-Men (the E being slurred into a Y by the people of Ava). This Prince knew-English 
 well, and used to translate articles of interest from Rees's Cyclopaedia, of which he possessed a copy. 
 The Prince's nephew, the King of that day, once proposed to Colonel Burney the awful task of translating 
 the forty quartos of that work into Burmese. 
 
 The Mekhara Men assisted Mr. Lane, a merchant at Ava, in the compilation of the English and Bur- 
 mese dictionary which bears the name of the latter. 
 
OUR RESIDENCE AT THE CAPITAL. 103 
 
 The wife and daughters joined the party at table, whilst they affected to partake of a 
 fifth breakfast. The eldest daughter was a very pretty girl, and both wore handsome 
 jewels, which were suspected to have been borrowed from the Palace for the occasion, as 
 the worthy old gentleman is known not to be rich. 
 
 During the visit, the youngest daughter sent for a packet carefully wrapt up in cloth, 
 which proved to be the daguerreotype likeness of her father, taken during his Mission to 
 Calcutta. Of this, they all seemed quite proud, considering it exceedingly like, and 
 objecting to hang it up lest it should be spoilt. 
 
 As the Woon's wife mentioned Rangoon, Major Phayre asked how long she had 
 resided there. Scarcely eight months, she said, before the ships came and the war com- 
 menced. Finding the subject took such an unlucky twist, the Envoy changed it as fast 
 as possible. 
 
 As the party came away, the old gentleman told his wife to give the Envoy her hand 
 " in English fashion," which she did accordingly, and they all came away much gratified 
 with the friendly reception they had met with. 
 
 The duties of the day were completed by a visit to Camaretta, whose wife and 
 daughters, Burmese in dress and language, likewise were introduced.* 
 
 September 25th. — The King remarked to S yesterday, " I shall not now want 
 
 muskets. The Myadoung Mengyi has undertaken to supply me with 10,000." This 
 doubtless referred to Major Phayre's remark regarding the admission of warlike stores, 
 and was as much as to say that he did not want a treaty. The King seemed now to think 
 that if he concluded a treaty, however general in terms, he would be silently acceding to 
 the existing state of things, and resigning his claim to any restoration of territory. He 
 also now talked about awaiting the arrival of the new Governor-General, of whose 
 appointment we had heard." 
 
 September 26th. — To-day a party from the Residency went to see an exhibition of 
 elephant -taming, of which the Burmese are as devotedly fond as the Spaniards are of 
 a bull-fight 
 
 An arena for the purpose is erected to the east of the town, near the banks of one of 
 the lakes, and attached to it is a spacious timber-pavilion for the King's use, commonly 
 known as the Elephant Palace. 
 
 This is one of the standing " Institutions " of Burma, and notices of it are to be met 
 with in the books of the earliest travellers. 
 
 The arena itself consists of an enclosure about eighty or one hundred yards square 
 formed by a wall some five-and-twenty feet high, and as much in thickness. At an 
 interval of about twenty feet from the interior of the wall runs a very massive palisade 
 of timber, the spaces of which are just wide enough to admit of the free passage of a man's 
 body. A smaller stockade, of similar character, occupies the middle of the square, and in 
 the centre of all is a small building for spectators. 
 
 On two faces there were entrances into the interior of the square, the gates being com- 
 
 * 1 am indebted to the Envoy and Major Allan for the preceding account of these visits. 
 
104 OUR RESIDENCE AT THE CAPITAL. 
 
 posed of two heavy beams of timber, swinging vertically from pivots, and fitting, when 
 closed, into a grooved sill on the ground. Gates of this kind being established both in the 
 line of the wall, and in that of the stockade, the fenced passage which led from one to the 
 other was converted into a trap of some twenty feet in length, which could be closed readily 
 and effectually. 
 
 A flight of steps led to the top of the wall, which appeared to be the favourite place for 
 spectators of all ranks, and there sheds were prepared for the visitors from the Residency. 
 
 As the party reached the ground they observed a group of about two dozen female 
 elephants, some with drivers, but mostly unattended, standing in a compact mass on the 
 plain, about 400 yards from the enclosure, and carefully keeping in their midst the two 
 wild males which had been decoyed. The females seemed quite to understand their duty, 
 and continued to hustle the victims in the direction of the arena. On reaching the 
 entrance, a female with her mahout first passed into the interior of the enclosure, followed 
 almost immediately by the larger of the wild males. The entrance was immediately 
 closed, and an opportunity taken to lead away the decoy by the other gate. The male was 
 a nearly full-grown tusker, but appeared thin and weak, having been kept on short 
 commons for some time previously. He ran round the palisades seeking for the means of 
 exit, and seemed to recognise the passage by which he had entered. For he frecpiently 
 ran with his whole force against the timbers that closed it, or, kneeling down, tried to 
 uproot them. From this he was driven by the blows and shouts of those behind the 
 stockade, whilst others rushed out between the posts and pricked him with goads. Turn- 
 ing to chase these they would dart nimbly between the posts, whilst he would dash his 
 head against the latter, making the whole structure tremble, to the infinite amusement of 
 the Burmans, and to his own no small hurt. Thus the poor beast was regularly baited for 
 a considerable time, the object being to tire him out and break his spirit. 
 
 When he began to show signs of fatigue one of the chief mahouts, exciting him to pur- 
 suit in the same way that the others had done, led him into the den formed by one of the 
 passages of entrance. The aperture being immediately closed, while the man escaped be- 
 tween the posts, the elephant found himself in a cage not large enough for him to turn 
 round in. They then began to tie his hind-legs and to put collars round his neck. To 
 enable them to do this, and to prevent the animal from tearing away the collars before they 
 could be properly secured, a noose of small hide-rope was first put over his ear, the end 
 being thrown over the opposite side of his neck. Thus, whenever he attempted to take 
 hold of the collar, the first thing his trunk caught was this small rope ; and by pulling it 
 he only hurt himself, and had his attention distracted from what the mahouts were doing. 
 During all this process of picketing and collaring the poor elephant displayed an excess of 
 rage, pushing at the posts all round him, thrusting his tusks into them, and rending large 
 splinters off, tearing up the ground, and trumpeting vociferously. A second collar had 
 just been adjusted, and the people were proceeding to tighten it, when the elephant, which 
 had frequently lain down, as if quite exhausted, reared suddenly on his hind-quarters and 
 fell on his side dead. 
 
 With the other and smaller elephant a different process was pursued. At a signal 
 
OUR RESIDENCE AT THE CAHTAL. 105 
 
 given he was abandoned by the females which encompassed him, and chase was given by 
 nine or ten large males, whose mahouts were provided with lassoes of hide-rope, Several 
 of these nooses being slipt over one of his hind legs, the ends of the ropes were secured to 
 a strong stake in the ground. He was thus tethered in a circle of about forty yards' 
 radius. The old elephants then began regularly to bait him, thrusting him with their 
 tusks, following him up, and hustling him from one to the other till he was quite tired out. 
 Two large elephants then took him between them, whilst their riders put collars round his 
 neck. He was then walked off to a shed and strictly picketed, where he was to remain on 
 low diet till he gradually perceived the necessity of obedience.* 
 
 The 28th of September, and again the 1st of October, had been fixed by the King as 
 days of audience to Major Phayre ; but on both days excuse was made on trivial pretexts 
 for deferring the reception. 
 
 On the 2d of October, however, the Envoy had an audience. He was accompanied by 
 Capt. F. Willis, and by Mr. Edwards. They found the Palace-yard in a sad state from the 
 late nightly rain, and had to walk along two lines of bricks in order to keep out of the 
 mire. 
 
 The interview took place in the small audience-chamber or pavilion, immediately in 
 rear of the great hall. About a hundred persons were present, including two Atwen- 
 woorre, the Nan-ma-dau Phra Woon, Makartish, and several Shan Tsaub-was, but none of 
 the Woongyis. After some delay the King entered and took his seat on a sofa, when 
 the following dialogue took place : — 
 
 King. " There is a great deal of mud from this rain." 
 
 Envoy. (Finding from the general look towards him that he was expected to answer.) 
 " There is, your Majesty ; but at our residence there is none. It is a sandy soil." 
 
 K. " Did you go the other day to the Pyee Kyoung and see the Tshaya-dauf (Royal 
 Teacher) there?" 
 
 E. " I did, your Majesty." 
 
 K. " Did he discourse to you, and did you approve of what he said ?" 
 
 E. " He discoursed on moral duties, and what he said was very proper." 
 
 * We have here an illustration of the constancy of the Burmese nations to old customs. Thus in 
 1569, Master Csesar Frederike, speaking of the court of Pegu, says : " This King hath a brave devise in 
 hunting to take these elephants when he will. Two miles from this Citie he hath builded a faire Palace 
 all gilded and within it a faire court, and within it and round about there are made an infinite number 
 
 of places for men to stand to see this hunting When the Huntsmen have made provision and 
 
 the elephant is so entangled, they guide the females towards the Palace which is called Tambell, and this 
 Palace hath a door which doth open and shut with engines," and so on, describing the proceedings almost 
 exactly as I have done from Lieut. Heathcote's account of it. — V. Purchas, Pt. ii. p. 1715. 
 
 The same practice is noted as exactly by Nicolo di Conti, the oldest known European traveller in Ava, 
 circa 1430, (Ramusio, i. 340) ; and by De la Loubere, as a favourite amusement of Siam in his time (p. 44.) 
 
 Fatal accidents are common at these elephant-baits, when the animal turns suddenly on his persecutors. 
 Such an accident occurred in Burney's presence in 1830. The humane temper of the present King is 
 averse to the amusement, which he rarely attends. 
 
 t This is one of the appellations of the Patriarch or Bishop of the Monks throughout the kingdom. (P.) 
 
 P 
 
103 OUR BE8XDBKCE AT TnF. CAPITAL. 
 
 K. " You know what we call the ten virtues,* do you agree with them ?" 
 
 E. " They are most excellent," 
 
 K. " What length of time, according to your books, is a Kamba " (a complete revolu- 
 tion of nature, a geological period it might almost be called) ? 
 
 E. " Our books, your Majesty, do not contain that." 
 
 K. " Well, we say that in a Kamba the life-period of man gi-adually advances from the 
 limit of ten years to an Athenkhya,f and then gradually diminishes from that down to 
 ten years again. When that has been repeated sixty-four times it constitutes a period, 
 which again is repeated sixty-four times, and when four such compound periods have been 
 repeated, the whole era is called a Kamba, or a grand revolution of the universe. The 
 world is then destroyed and a new era commences." 
 
 E. " That is a period which the mind cannot comprehend." 
 
 K. " Have you read the ' Mahan-Zat ?' " 
 
 E. " I have not." 
 
 The King here entered into a long narration of the story of this Zat, or life of 
 Gautama, in one of his former births, the gist of which was that a King, who had a wise 
 minister, would gain all he wanted. He then narrated the story of a King of Benares, 
 who had three birds' eggs brought to him, which produced a parrot, an owl, and a mainah, 
 each of whom in course of time had a department of the state entrusted to him, the parrot 
 having the greatest or political matters. " The moral seemed to be, though not very 
 clearly brought about as far as I could follow the story," says Major Phayre, " that people 
 of various nations might be employed with advantage in the administration of a country. 
 What the application of this was, unless it referred to our own position in Pegu, I could 
 not understand." 
 
 K. " I believe your English Kings have existed for 200 years, or more, have they 
 not?" J 
 
 * 1, Charity. 2, Religious Observances. 3, Self-denial. 4, Learning. 5, Diligence. 6, Patience. 
 7, Truth. 8, Perseverance. 9, Friendship. 10, Impartiality. (P.) 
 
 f Kamba is probably the Hindu kalpa. Athen-khya is the Sanskrit asankhya; lit. innumerable, but 
 a Buddhist period expressed by a unit and one hundred and forty ciphers. (P.) 
 
 Why do all our Burmese scholars (e. g. Phayre, Burney, Judson), when they have occasion to write 
 Pali words, hack them into mere hyphenized aggregations of syllables, so as to disguise all recognition 
 of etymology, as much as would have been the case with the unhappy English language, had the propa- 
 gators of the Fonetic Ntiz succeeded in their atrocious conspiracy 1 Who would recognise in Judson' s 
 A-ma-ya-poo-ya the identity of root with our Amaranth and Immortal ? or in Burney's E-ya-wa-tee its 
 identity in name with the Airavatce or Hydraotes of the Punjab 1 Athen-khya is a corruption, or Bur- 
 mese pronunciation, of Asankhya, «v«g<fy«<>;, from the negative A and Sankhya (Sansc.) " number." 
 
 % This of course was said ironically, to indicate that the English are a people of yesterday, and without 
 the long illustrious pedigree of the descendants of the Hunter Alompra, who emerged from his forests 
 little more than one hundred years ago. (P.) There has, in fact, been no old Royal dynasty on the throne 
 of Ava at least since 1526. In that year the reigning King was dethroned and slain by the northern 
 Shans ; these were displaced in 1544 by the conquering Prince of Toungoo, himself apparently not of 
 royal lineage ; his illegitimate descendants furnished kings of Ava, from the fall of the Peguan empire in 
 the end of the sixteenth century till its short-lived revival and subjugation of Ava in the middle of the 
 eighteenth. Then came Alompra. ( Y.) 
 
OUK KESIDENCE AT TnE CAMTAL. 107 
 
 E. " Tlie English nation, your Majesty, have had Kings to reign over them for 1400 
 or 1500 years." 
 
 K. " My ancestors have come in regular descent from King Maha-tha-mada."* 
 
 The Envoy here said to one of the Atwen-woons, " Which of the royal cities did 
 Maha-tha-mada build?" 
 
 The Atwen-woon stared at him without replying. 
 
 Woondouh " Oh, that King reigned in Myit-tsye-ma-detha " (Madhyadesa, or 
 Majhima Desha, the middle land, India). 
 
 K. " Our race once reigned in all the countries you hold. Now the Kalas have come 
 close up to us." 
 
 E. " It is true, your Majesty." 
 
 K. " Have you read any of our Maha-Radza-Weng (Chronicles of the Kings)?" f 
 
 E. " I have read portions of them, and am very anxious to read more." 
 
 K. " Well, I will present you with a complete copy, and also a copy of the 550 Zats 
 and the Mahan-Zats, and when you come again I shall expect to find that you have 
 studied them." 
 
 E. " I shall do my best to make myself acquainted with them." 
 
 K. " I should like to have a copy of your Radza-Weng (History of Kings)." 
 
 E. " That I will present to your Majesty." 
 
 K. " It is only right and the part of a wise man to gather instruction from the 
 records of the past and the works of sages. By the study of these books, you will be able 
 to divine people's thoughts from their appearance, and may aspire to the most difficult of 
 all attainments, the discernment of which is the greater principle, matter or spirit." % 
 
 Mention was then made by the Woondouk of the discoveries near Bhilsa of Buddhist 
 Topes, and more especially of the relics contained in the chambers. These discoveries 
 had- made rather a sensation here, and the Envoy had been asked what had become of the 
 relics, and whether we were desirous of keeping them. The Woondouk, to whom Major 
 Phayre had communicated these particulars, now briefly narrated them, and observed that 
 the account of them was contained in Major Cunningham's book on the Topes of Bhilsa, 
 which Major Phayre had partly translated to him. 
 
 K. " I should like to see the book very much." 
 
 E. " I will present it to your Majesty." 
 
 * Maha-Sammata is by the Indian Buddhist writings held up as the first king who established 
 government on the earth, many millions of years past, at the commencement of the present Kamba in 
 fact. The question to the Atwen-woon was put to show that the Envoy was aware no such king had 
 reigned in Burma. (P.) 
 
 t The general existence of such Chronicles among the Indo-Chinese nations appears to present a 
 remarkable contrast to the deficiency of similar records in India. Burma, Pegu, Aracan, Muneepoor, the 
 old state of Pong or Mogoung, and even such small states as Tavoy and the Shan principalities of Zimme 
 and Laboung have all, I believe, their chronicles going back to a period of considerable antiquity. 
 
 I I believe this was the King's meaning ; but what with the nature of the subject, and his utterance 
 being frequently indistinct by reason of the pan he was constantly eating, I could not catch all his words. 
 The subject was a good deal enlarged upon." — Major Phayre. 
 
108 OUR RESIDENCE AT TIIE CAPITAL. 
 
 K. " It is a difficult thing, (is it not?) to find people of a generous disposition: soars 
 wish only to acquire other people's property, others give away what they have. Which 
 do you think are the more numerous ? " 
 
 E. " Certainly, your Majesty, I must say, the covetous form a very large majority." 
 
 (Here there was a general titter throughout the assembly, and the King joined in the 
 laugh. He has the character himself of giving away as fast as he] receives, and hoarding 
 nothing.) 
 
 K. " You have brought the rain with you. There have now been beneficial showers 
 for nearly a month." Mr. Spears. " It was the same, your Majesty, when Colonel Benson 
 came, and it then rained for fifteen day's." 
 
 K. " Have you been to see any of the Royal Tanks, at Oungben-le, and other places, 
 which have lately been constructed?" 
 
 E. " I have not been yet, your Majesty, but I purpose going." 
 
 K. " I have caused ninety-nine* tanks and ancient reservoirs to be dug or repaired, 
 and sixty-six canals, whereby a great deal of rice-land will be made available." 
 
 E. (To an Atwe'n-woon.) "Is there any mention of those ancient reservoirs in the 
 Maha-Radza-Weng?" 
 
 K. " Most of them are very ancient. In the reign of Naurabha-dzyai 9999 tanks 
 and canals were constructed. I purpose renewing them." 
 
 E. " They will be of great benefit to the country." 
 
 K. " I hope you will always be near, so that I may hear of you. Since I heard that 
 Captain Latter had been killed by evil men, I have always prayed that you might be 
 preserved." 
 
 The King then spoke to Mr. Edwards, and reminded him of their meeting in the year 
 1837 in the streets of Ava, when the King's father Tharawadi was leaving the capital to 
 go to Moutshobo-Myo, at the commencement of his revolt against the reigning King. 
 
 Throughout the whole of the King's references to history and other subjects there 
 appeared to be a hidden meaning, pointing to the propriety of restoring to him the Pro- 
 vince of Pegu. 
 
 It appeared by the King's private communications through Mr. Camaretta, that his 
 Majesty had now pretty well made up his mind to sign no treaty. He requested that 
 the Envoy would reserve the subject for conference with himself, and not broach it with 
 the minister. 
 
 October 3d. — Padre Abbona to-day related to the Envoy a curious conversation 
 
 * Ninety-nine seems to mean in Burmese " a large number " merely. Thus Capt. Hannay was told 
 that there were ninety-nine jhecls, or lakes, in the district of Tagoung, {MS. Journal) So also an ancient 
 king of Aracan is said to have founded ninety-nine cities on each side of the Gatshapa, or Aracan River ; 
 {Phayre on the History of Aracan, Jour. As. Soc. Bong. vol. xiii.) ; and so the Burmese spoak of the 
 ninety-nine towns of the Shan country. The King of Ceylon, Duttagamini, a great promoter of Buddhism 
 in the second century B.C., is said to have built ninety-nine great temples. {Trans. Royal As. Soc. ii. 478.) 
 It is a phrase from their Buddhist lore. The Buddhist physiology speaks of the niuety-nmc joints, and 
 ninety-nine thousand pores of the human body. {Man. of Bud. p. 200.) So we have our leases for 99 
 and 999 years. 
 
OUR RESIDENCE AT THE CAPITAL. 109 
 
 which he stated himself to have had with the King on the 1st, regarding the proposed 
 treaty. After asking Abbona what he and D'Orgoni thought on the subject, he said : — 
 
 " The Woongyis are also in favour of a treaty ; so are the Atwen-woons, and the 
 Woondouks." The King then mentioned his brother's name, but in such a low tone that 
 Abbona did not know whether he said the heir-apparent was favourable to a treaty or 
 otherwise. He continued thus : 
 
 " It behoves me to be more cautious than any one in an affair of this importance. I 
 am responsible for the honour of the kingdom. If I were a Minister, or a Prince, perhaps 
 I should give the same advice that they do." 
 
 Mr. Camaretta here spoke out boldly and said-; " But if the four Woongyis and the 
 other Ministers are all of the same opinion, may not your Majesty be wrong ?" 
 
 The King replied : " I can bring an instance where, although they are all against me, 
 I think that you will admit I am in the right. They are all against me for abolishing fees 
 in courts of justice, and for forbidding levies of money to be made as formerly, and for 
 wishing to pay every one by salaries." 
 
 After this, Father Abbona represented that the King when alone with him, said, " I 
 have no objection to sign the treaty, but I shall require, in order to save my name from 
 dishonour hereafter, and in order to show my brother that I am not abandoning my claims, 
 that a third article be added to the treaty, to the effect, that if the two high contracting 
 powers hereafter agree to have a more detailed treaty, they can execute it." 
 
 Abbona assured the Envoy that these were the King's words, but, when told of Cama- 
 retta's communication on the preceding night, in a quite contrary sense, he professed 
 himself at a loss to account for the sudden change. 
 
 October 4th. — To-day Major Phayre went, by appointment, to have a conversation with 
 the Magwe Mengyi. 
 
 Before proceeding to business, the Woongyi entered into an interesting conversation 
 on various subjects, asking the Envoy various questions as to the several countries of 
 Europe, their relative positions and powers, whether they all wore hats like the English 
 and French, (this seemed to be, in their opinion, the distinctive peculiarity of Europeans,*) 
 and particularly whether the Russians did ; the number of ships and troops they had ; the 
 course taken by sailing-vessels via the Cape from Europe to India, and that by steamers 
 through the Mediterranean and Red Seas ; railways, balloons, the solar system ; America 
 and the republican system of government ; the relationship of the English and Americans 
 with respect to race, language, and religion ; the kingdom of Persia, Turkey, and Egypt, 
 the King of Delhi and his position with respect to the English government ; the time 
 elapsed since he submitted. These and other subjects kept the party engaged in conver- 
 sation for nearly two hours. Major Phayre had to sketch out a map of Europe, and the 
 Woongyi requested him to send one including Burma, India, and China, with the names 
 written in Burmese. He particularly requested it might not be a globe, as that puzzled 
 
 * A hundred and fifty years ago, according to Captain Alexander Hamilton, the "gentry" of Pegu 
 and Burma used to give extravagant prices tor fine leaver hats. {New Account of the East Indies, 1727.) 
 
110 OUK RESIDENCE AT THE CAPITAL. 
 
 him. He laughed heartily when told that if he were to talk with the Envoy daily for a 
 week he would believe in the globular form of the earth, and in its revolution round the 
 sun, and replied that in that time he should convert the Envoy. 
 
 The business which succeeded was of no particular interest. In fact, the Woongyi 
 was unaware of the King's request that the treaty might not be discussed, and was in 
 evident expectation of the subject being brought forward. 
 
 October 8th. — To day the Envoy had an audience, attended by Dr. Forsyth, Major- 
 Allan, Mr. Oldham, Mr. Edwards, and the Secretary. On reaching the Palace, we were 
 taken to the usual waiting-room (the white elephant's pavilion), to abide His Majesty's 
 pleasure. 
 
 After a short detention we were summoned to the Palace. Our way lay through the 
 great hall in which the public reception took place. The mats and rich carpets which 
 then covered the floor had been removed, and it was now visible as of unsophisticated mud. 
 From this the hall derives its name of Mye Nan or Earthen Palace. Dancing-women 
 were performing in the central aisle before the throne. Traversing the hall and issuing 
 into a veranda near the throne we observed the inner chamber and the staircase leading 
 to the throne, up which their Majesties had toiled with so much apparent difficulty on the 
 audience day. 
 
 The veranda was crowded with officials and with a seated company of female minstrels, 
 gaily attired and crowned with pagoda-shaped tiaras, like those worn by the princes in the 
 plays. The scene of our reception was the Je-da-woon-tshoung, the same pavilion in 
 which Major Phayre had been received on the 2d. It was a lofty room about forty or 
 forty-five feet square, with very little ornament. The walls and pillars had originally been 
 painted red, but were now dusty and cobwebbed. The floor was spread with the carpets 
 that had been used in the great hall on the 13th of September, and was crowded with the 
 dignitaries and petty officials of the court, the latter all carrying large and handsome dhas 
 in velvet or golden scabbards. 
 
 Some twenty feet in front of where we took our 6eats was the king's sofa, a handsome 
 specimen of the Burmese style of cabinet-making, in mosaic of gilding and looking-glass. 
 It was spread with a handsome velvet mattrass, yellow bordered with crimson, and a cor- 
 responding rug of crimson bordered with yellow was spread below for the regalia. These 
 consisted of a fantastic gilded ornament, in size and shape much like a large pair of stag's 
 antlers, festooned with a muslin scarf and intended to receive the royal sword, and of the 
 large golden Henza set with precious stones which stood on the throne between their 
 Majesties on the public reception-day. Other royal paraphernalia, such as the golden 
 spittoon, the stand for the water goglet, with its conical golden cover set with gems, &c, 
 were brought in and deposited on the rug when his Majesty appeared.* 
 
 * Regalia similar to these in character were always borne in procession with the sovereign in the 
 ancient Javanese monarchy, and were ranged behind him when seated. They included a variety of golden 
 figures of animals and birds (here represented only by the royal Henza,) with golden bowls and salvers, 
 tobacco-box, and golden spitting-pot. (Ruffles, i. 310.) The last-named article, generally in silver, is the 
 inevitable concomitant of a Burmese dignitary. The distinguishing regalia of the ancient Indian Kings 
 
OUR RESIDENCE AT THE CAPITAL. 1 1 1 
 
 We had waited probably twenty minutes when the expected music sounded from 
 within and the guardsmen (accompanied by Mr. Camaretta in his usual white jacket) 
 entered and dropt on their knees on either side. The doors in front of us were at the same 
 time thrown open and disclosed a long suite of gilded apartments, with the King, a rather 
 short man, but muscular and well proportioned, slowly pacing towards us, in rear of the 
 attendants who bore the sword and other royal apparatus just described. 
 
 Coming in with a bright sparkling look, he took off his sandals behind the sofa, 
 seemed to wipe his feet on a velvet hassock, and took his seat, doubling up his legs in the 
 Burman fashion. 
 
 Our nearer view made no unfavourable change in our judgment of the King's appear- 
 ance. He has a clear and smooth skin, with a bright black eye which twinkles up into 
 quite a Chinese obliquity when he laughs, and that he does every two minutes ; his mous- 
 tache is good, the throat and jaws very massive, the chest and arms remarkably well 
 developed, and the hands clean and small. The retreating forehead, which marks him as 
 a descendant of Alompra, was now very conspicuous, and I never saw this feature before 
 in such singular excess. 
 
 He was dressed in the ordinary Burman fashion ; with a scanty muslin fillet round his 
 head, a well-fitting white cotton jacket, and a gay putso of zigzag stripes. The only royal 
 magnificence about his person was displayed in the tsalioi which crossed his chest in three 
 distinct pairs of bands, brooched at the nine intersections with splendidly jewelled fibulae 
 in form of crescents or rosettes. He also wore a pair of ear-tubes, in the centre of each of 
 which sparkled a right royal ruby. 
 
 After looking round a while with a good-humoured expression he began to talk ; first 
 addressing himself to the Atwen-woons. 
 
 K. " Are the books which I ordered ready ?" 
 
 At. " They are ready, your Majesty, and collected in the outer apartment." 
 
 K. {Addressing the Envoy.) " Among these books is the Maha-Radza-Weng. Read 
 it carefully, and let it enter into your heart. The advantage will be twofold." 
 
 " First, you will learn the events which have passed, and the kings who have succeeded 
 each other; and secondly, as regards futurity, you will gather from thence the instability 
 of human affairs, and the uselessness of strife and anger." 
 
 E. " I will carefully study the work." 
 
 K. " As regards the other works also, by constant study they can be acquired. As I 
 said on a former occasion, the mass of earth, water, and air which compose the great island 
 (the earth) and Mount Myenmo, is vast, but learning is more stupendous still, and great 
 labour is necessary to acquire it." 
 
 " Do you know how many elements there are in a man's body ? " 
 
 E. " I cannot inform your Majesty." 
 
 were five, viz., the golden sword, the ornamented slippers, the umbrella, the golden frontlet, and the 
 chowree. The first, fourth, and fifth were carried before the King on the audience day. His slippers, 
 or sandals, we did not see. 
 
112 OITK RESIDENCE AT THE CArlTAL. 
 
 K. " The body consists of a vast number of particles, small as flour or dust. One hair 
 of the head appears like a single fibre, does it not?" 
 
 E. " It does, your Majesty." 
 
 K. " Well, yet it is made up of a great number of smaller fibres, just as one of your 
 long ropes you sound the depth of water with is composed of short fibres.* Of the 
 elements,t earth enters into the bones, and water into the hair. I have returned to you 
 the book you sent regarding the pagodas and relics discovered in Myit-tsi-ma-detha. Is 
 the writing of the whole book translated from the stone inscriptions?" 
 
 E. " No, those form but a small part of the book. Accounts of Buddhist personages 
 have been collected by the author from various sources." 
 
 K. " What writing was discovered in the relic chambers ? " 
 
 E. " The names of the persons whose relics they contained ; more especially I 
 remember Sariputra and Maha Mogolasa." 
 
 K. " What has become of the relics ?" 
 
 E. " That I am unable to say." 
 
 K. " How were they found placed?" 
 
 E. " First in an earthen jar, and inside that a steatite casket, in which the relics were 
 discovered." 
 
 K. " I should like to have the books translated into Burmese." 
 
 E. " I will endeavour to do so, your Majesty." 
 
 K. " Who are there now of the English gentlemen present?" 
 
 Woondouk. " There are Captain Yule, the secretary to the mission (Letya Bogyee, or 
 right-hand chief ) ; Dr. Forsyth (Tshaya Woon, or supreme over the teachers); Professor 
 Oldham (Kyouk Tshaya, or rock teacher), and Major Allan (the Meaday Woon, and tele- 
 scope officer, Mhan byoung Bo)." 
 
 K. "Major Allan \ is a good man. Does he speak Burmese?" 
 W. " A little, your Majesty." 
 
 K. " Not so much as the Envoy, I suppose. He should study. Parrots by diligence 
 learn languages. Have you parrots that can speak English ?" 
 
 E. " We have, your Majesty." 
 
 K. " And we have parrots that even understand writing. What stones is the Rock 
 Teacher acquainted with?" 
 
 E. " He knows all kinds, your Majesty." 
 
 K. " In my country there are mountains, along the side of which if horses, elephants, 
 or men go, a green shadow is cast on their bodies. Your black coat would appear green 
 there. How does he explain this ? " § 
 
 * See note at page 4. 
 
 t The King referred to the four original elements of the universe according to Burmese philosophy, 
 earth, fire, water, and air, which enter into the composition of the human body. — Major Phayre. 
 
 I Major Allan's name was well known to the King from his having been engaged in laying down the 
 boundary, and from some correspondence which then occurred. 
 
 § I supposed the King meant the shade was cast by reflection from the surface, but it subsequently 
 appeared he considered there was some hidden cause not readily appreciable. — Major Phayre. 
 
OUR RESIDENCE AT THE CAPITAL. 1 1 3 
 
 Professor Oldham suggested it might arise from copper on the surface. 
 K. " No, it cannot be that, as the copper is not seen. I think it results from emeralds 
 below."* 
 
 Professor Oldham. " I could not give an opinion without going to look at the place. 1 
 should be happy to examine it." 
 
 E. " Perhaps it may be as your Majesty says." 
 
 K. " Are you aware that there are hot springs in which an egg can be boiled?" 
 
 Professor Oldham. " I have seen such in the Himalaya and other parts of the world, 
 and in the Tenasserim Provinces." 
 
 K. (To Dr. Forsyth) "How many elementary substances are there in the human body?" 
 
 Dr. F. " Four substances." 
 
 K. " That is correct Could a man have one of them destroyed, and yet survive?" 
 
 Dr. F. " It might be partially injured, and he yet survive." 
 
 K. " But suppose the element on which the issues of the body depend were to be 
 destroyed, could the man survive?" 
 
 Dr. F. " In that case he must die, if the action could not be restored." 
 
 K. " That is true. It is proper for every physician to be conversant with the 
 elementary substances, f There are a great number of books on the subject of medicine in 
 the Burmese language. Books so deep " (raising his hand above his head). 
 
 Dr. F. " And in Europe there are books enough on the subject to reach the ceiling of 
 the hall." 
 
 E. " I have received from your Majesty a fossil alligator's head, which is very much 
 prized by Professor Oldham, and I have heard there are Biloos' (monsters') bones in some 
 parts of the country." 
 
 K. " There are Biloos' bones in the Yau \ district, and you can have as many as you 
 choose, or a whole Biloo even." 
 
 E. " I am much indebted to your Majesty." 
 
 K. (To the Woondouk.) " See that this is attended to." 
 
 K. (To the Atwdn-woons.) " These people cannot sit long thus without being 
 cramped." 
 
 * An analogous idea is mentioned by Sir Walter Kaleigh, as quoted by Hugh Miller from his voyage 
 to Guiana. " Amid lovely prospects of rich valleys and wooded hills, and winding waters, almost every 
 rock bore on its surface the yellow gleam of gold. True, according to the voyager, the precious metal 
 was itself absent. But Sir Walter, on afterwards showing the stones to a Spaniard of the Caraccas, was 
 told by him that they were madre del oro, that is, the mother of gold, and that the mine itself was 
 further in the ground." — Schools and Schoolmasters, p. 57. 
 
 f The King's notion about elementary substances is illustrated by the dialogue said to have taken 
 place between the prince Siddhartha (Gautama) and his attendants, on his seeing a sick man, one of the 
 four signs which induced him to adopt the ascetic life. " What is a sick man V " Man," they replied, 
 " is formed of the four elements, earth, water, fire, and air. Every element hath a hundred and one 
 maladies that follow each other successively," and so forth.— Notes to Pilgrimage of Fahian, Calcutta, 
 
 1848, p. 198. 
 
 X The Yaus are a tribe speaking a peculiar dialect of Burmese, who inhabit the skirts of the Aracan 
 mountains, westward of Pagan. 
 
 Q 
 
114 OTTn RESIDENCE AT THE CAPITAL. 
 
 His Majesty then flung liimself brusquely off the sofa, turned his back, put on his shoes 
 and strode away without any leave-taking. The King's manner was very easy, and indi- 
 cative of good humour and good temper. The only unpleasant feature in his carriage 
 was his constant and excessive consumption of pan. The Author of the " Domestic 
 Manners of the Americans " alone could do justice to the natural result. The golden 
 pan-box was constantly held in his hand and played with as he talked. 
 
 After the King had disappeared, refreshments were brought in, of which we partook. 
 Several of the dishes were very palatable, pancakes filled with spiced meat, jellies of rice- 
 starch tinged with different colours, and so on. But the most notable viand produced 
 | consisted of fried locusts. These were brought in hot-and-hot in successive saucers, and I 
 was not sorry to have the opportunity of tasting a dish so famous. They were by no 
 \ means bad, very much like what one might suppose fried shrimps. The inside, I believe, 
 is removed, and the cavity stuffed with a little spiced meat. 
 
 Leaving the pavilion we went into the large audience-hall, where a dance was still 
 going on. It was the most pleasing form of the Burmese dance that we had yet seen. 
 Ten or twelve richly dressed girls moved to the music in a circle, brandishing in each 
 hand a bunch of peacocks' feathers, and, as they slowly circled round, threw themselves 
 into a variety of curious and difficult attitudes, chanting all the while in very pleasing 
 chorus. Their singing in style singularly resembled that of the psalmody in a well-trained 
 English parish church. 
 
 After our return to the Residency, I started with Mr. Oldham and Dr. Forsyth on a 
 short excursion to the foot of the Shan hills. 
 
 October 10th. — Major Phayre had demanded a private audience with the view of 
 having a distinct explanation on the subject of the treaty. But to-day Spears came from 
 the King to say that His Majesty now considered it better that the Envoy should see the 
 Woongyi on the subject. 
 
 The King had also mentioned the subject of offerings to the Pagodas of Prome, Rangoon, 
 and Pegu, and of pilgrims wishing to go to Benares, Gya, or perhaps to Ceylon. 
 
 Major Phayre replied, that no offerings would be allowed to enter the British territory 
 which had anything about them distinctive as Royal offerings until a treaty was concluded. 
 
 October Wtli. — Abbona said the King now expressed himself against a treaty for the 
 present. He would wait till the new Governor-General arrived. 
 
 October \2th, — Major Phayre went this morning by appointment to the Magwe 
 Mengyi to discuss the treaty. The Woondouk and Makertich were present. The fol- 
 lowing is the Envoy's account of the conference. 
 
 "As usual, I commenced conversation on various subjects: the Solar System, the 
 North Pole, and the sun remaining above the horizon during a portion of the summer, the 
 Discovery of America, the War in the Crimea, &c. These and other subjects carried us 
 well through the repast prepared. I then said I had business to speak on, and requested 
 the Magwe Mengyi to clear the room ; which he did, and when the doors were shut I 
 then said : ' I am deputed by the most noble the Governor-General to come to this 
 country to perfect present friendship by a treaty, which will put matters on a firmer basis 
 
OUR RESIDENCE AT THE CAPITAL. 115 
 
 than they are on at present. I need not point out to you in detail how desirable a treaty 
 is between two nations, because it is a maxim universally acknowledged. I now there- 
 fore invite you to settle the preliminaries, on which account I have come to consult with 
 you.' 
 
 " W. 'You have already spoken to His Majesty on the subject?' 
 
 " E. ' Certainly I have. His Majesty desired me to ponder on the subject, and to 
 endeavour to provide for the welfare of both nations. That I have done. I have deeply 
 considered the question, and what I produce now is a draft treaty, which is eminently 
 calculated to benefit both of us.' Here I delivered a translation of the draft treaty to the 
 Woongyi, who read it over. 
 
 " W. * But His Majesty meant that you should consider the matter well, and repre- 
 sent his case to the English ruler. Then, when you return again, he will sign the treaty.' 
 
 " E. ' But what can I represent ? I can give no possible reason for His Majesty's not 
 consenting to sign the treaty now. I shall be obliged to inform the Governor-General 
 that His Majesty does not want a treaty.' 
 
 " W. ' That is not His Majesty's meaning. He merely means that he does not want 
 the treaty now, suddenly.' 
 
 " E. ' Then I shall be obliged to return and say His Majesty does not want a treaty. 
 If it is good in itself, why delay it ?' 
 
 " The Woondouk here came in to his superior's assistance. 
 
 " Woond. ' The meaning of His Majesty's language to you was, that you have been 
 here, and you know his good feelings towards the British Government, that he desires 
 peace and friendship, that he has received you all with the greatest kindness, and that on 
 representing this to the Governor-General you would bear in mind the benefit of both 
 nations, and then, when you returned here, His Majesty would sign the treaty.' 
 
 " E. 'I now ask you, Woondouk Meng, whether I did not expressly inform His 
 Majesty, the day you were present, that according to our Western ideas, a treaty was 
 absolutely necessary ; that without it, however much we might be informed, and believe, 
 that His Majesty was peacefully inclined, still that our confidence would not be perfect. 
 What is the reason of our withholding from you gunpowder and muskets, except that 
 without a treaty we feel distrust ? According to our ideas, saying you are friendly and 
 not signing to it, looks like mere friendship of the lips, and not of the heart and mind.' 
 
 " Woond. ' But you surely do not mean that you distrust His Majesty, after what he 
 has said?' 
 
 " E. 'As a man I may believe him ; as a British Envoy I cannot but distrust him 
 when there is no treaty.' 
 
 " Woongyi. ' Do you mean, then, that if we do not sign a treaty you will go to war ? ' 
 
 " E. ' Certainly not. The most noble the Governor-General is desirous of peace and 
 will never initiate a war. But I do mean that without a treaty our confidence is not fully 
 and freely given. I have said the treaty is beneficial to both parties. We all know the 
 constant rumour spread in our country of your army coming to attack us, and in your 
 country of our doing the .same towards you. Our coming up now with two steamers and 
 
1 16 OUR RESIDENCE AT THE CAPITAL. 
 
 a small escort was, as you must know, magnified into a fleet with an army to conquer the 
 country, and this story was in everybody's mouth.' 
 
 " W. * That is true, but had men will always put about stories of that kind.' 
 
 " E. * Rest assured a treaty would prevent them. Foreign merchants will not risk their 
 property here without a treaty, and that now offered is, in every respect, advantageous 
 for both nations. What is expected, and can be hoped for, by delay and a further reference 
 to the Governor-General, I really cannot understand. I do not know what I am to say to the 
 most noble the Governor-General, except that His Majesty does not want a treaty at all.' 
 
 " W. (smiling). ' Here our ideas separate from each other as they do about the form of 
 the earth. I have already told you what I consider was the purport and meaning of His 
 Majesty's language to you.' 
 
 " E. * But surely no better treaty can ever be offered to you hereafter than that which 
 1 have now delivered. The Governor-General has concluded treaties with the Ruler of 
 Cabul and the King of Siam; it is a course followed by all civilized nations who desire to 
 be friendly.' 
 
 " W. 'I will do what I can ; I will try if it can be dene.' 
 
 " E. ' Very well ; when shall I see you again ? ' 
 
 " W. ' Let it be next Monday.' (October 15th.) 
 
 " E. 'I have another subject to bring to your notice. It is regarding certain villagers 
 of Myoung Thangwa in the Toungoo district, who have been frightened away from their 
 village within the British frontier by order of one Nga Htaing Bo, the Thoogyi of Won- 
 we-goon in the Burmese territory. What I desire is, that such orders may be sent to the 
 frontier as will prevent any such interference in future with our people.' 
 
 " W. ' That I will do.' 
 
 " Woondouh. You must recollect, however, that stories of this kind are easily made 
 up, and that your Burmese people may, for evil purposes, invent these stories.' 
 
 " E. 'I am quite aware of that ; but I have no suspicion that such is the case in the 
 present instance.' 
 
 " Woongiji. ' What I hope is that, at least as long as I live, you will exert yourself to 
 preserve peace between the two nations, as I shall do. I am older than you are, and it 
 will be a consolation to me when I die that you remain to preserve peace.' 
 
 " E. ' You may rest assured I shall exert myself to that end. The most noble the 
 Governor-General is anxious for peace, and that is the reason why this treaty has been 
 offered.' " 
 
 Major Phayre now left, after going by the Woongyi's request to see his wife. 
 
 A phrase, attributed to Major Phayre when this dialogue was recounted to the King, 
 was interpreted by His Majesty as a threat, and this threw him into great agitation and 
 unusual anger. Mr. Spears came over with a very indefinite commission, but apparently 
 with the intention of getting some explanation of the obnoxious phrase. His Majesty was 
 assured that the supposed threat had not been used, and next day he regained his usual 
 equanimity. He continued by his agents to press for the reception of his Royal gifts to 
 the Pagodas in Pegu. 
 
OUR RESIDENCE AT THE CAPITAL. 117 
 
 The 15th was appointed for Major Phayre's final conference with the minister ; but the 
 latter sent to put him off on the pretext of its being an extraordinary Worship-Day. In 
 reality, it was supposed there was a consultation going on at the Palace. 
 
 On the 16th, however, the conference took place. Major Phayre thus narrates what 
 passed. 
 
 " A number of people were at the house. The Woongyi, as before, met me at the top 
 of the steps and gave me a cordial reception. We sat down at a table on which a break- 
 fast-cloth was spread, and, as usual, at starting, entered into general conversation. We 
 went over again the relative positions and powers of the European countries and of the 
 United States, the route to Europe from India via the Red Sea and round the Cape, China 
 and the rebellion there, the present Tartar Dynasty, the War in the Crimea, &c. During 
 this we went through a breakfast of cakes, biscuits, bread, and tea, and it became near 
 twelve o'clock. I then said, Let us commence business. The Woongyi cleared the room 
 of all except the Woondouk Moung Mhon, one of his sons-in-law, and Mr. Makertich. 
 
 " E. ' What reply are you prepared to make to the offer of a treaty which I made at 
 our last meeting ?' 
 
 " W. ' The instructions of His Majesty are, that from the first he has always been 
 friendly towards the English Ruler. When his elder brother had unfortunately engaged 
 with you in war, he was opposed to it, and, when he had the power to do so, withdrew the 
 troops sent against you. Afterwards he sent Envoys with a Royal letter and presents to 
 the most noble the Governor-General, and they were well received. The English Ruler 
 in return has sent an Envoy with a Royal letter and presents, and you have been received 
 with all honour. Friendship now exists between us, and we wish to remain friends ; but 
 it is against our custom to make any written agreement' Then the Woongyi handed me 
 a note, of which the following is a translation : — 
 
 " ' Egga-Maha-thee-na Dee-pa-di, the Royal Minister and Commissioner, Lord of 
 Kyouk-Mau Men-tha-dah Mengyi Maha men-tha-thi Ha-thoo,* informs the Agent of the 
 English Ruler of India and Commissioner, Major Arthur Purvis Phayre : 
 
 " • That with reference to forwarding a reply on the 5th day of the increasing moon 
 (15th October, 1855), after taking into consideration the discussions regarding a treaty, 
 the two great countries having mutually deputed Ambassadors with Royal letters and 
 presents, and the usual confidence and great friendship having been quickly restored, it is 
 considered unnecessary to make any further special arrangement on this subject.' 
 
 " E. ' You will remember that I urge this treaty upon you for the benefit of both 
 nations, as I said before, and as I represented to His Majesty I would endeavour to do. 
 If you make the treaty, we shall no longer be troubled by alarming reports in both coun- 
 tries. You will be allowed to import warlike stores, the Royal offerings to the Shwe- 
 Dagon and the other Pagodas in Pegu will be allowed to pass, and trading steamers will 
 be permitted to ply to Rangoon from your territory.' 
 
 * The first of these titles is pure Sanskrit, according to Burman pronunciation, and in the last 
 term wrongly divided : it is properly, Eka Mahusenadhipati : the One Supreme Ruler over the great 
 army. Of the second title, the only term recognisable as Sanskrit is Mahd, great. (W.) 
 
1 18 OUR RESIDENCE AT THE CAPITAL. 
 
 " W. ' It is not according to our custom to make treaties, and as we already are 
 friends we do not wish to go contrary to custom.' 
 
 " E. ' Yet you have made treaties before. You have, I think, a treaty with China?'* 
 
 " W. ' Not a treaty. There was a verbal agreement made in the year 1769, between 
 the Chinese and Burmese Generals on the frontier, that every ten years an embassy should 
 be sent from one nation to the other.' 
 
 " E. 'I have understood there was a treaty ; but at all events His Majesty's lloyal 
 uncle made a treaty with the English Ruler.' 
 
 " W. ' That was to make peace after war.' 
 
 " E. ' But there was a second treaty made about ten months afterwards ; that 
 was not to make peace, but to arrange for commerce between the two nations.' The 
 Woongyi made no reply to this, and the Woondouk said, ' True, but it was made only 
 as provided by the first treaty. Commerce was considered too insignificant an affair to 
 put into the great treaty of Yandabo,f so it was deferred to be considered on another 
 occasion.' 
 
 " E. * The treaty now proposed may be properly considered as an arrangement be- 
 tween the two great nations, after peace has been established de facto.' 
 
 " W. ' It is not according to our custom to make such an arrangement.' 
 
 " E. I can only repeat what I said before, and what I have urged to His Majesty, that 
 according to our ideas we camiot give full confidence where a treaty is withheld. If, 
 therefore, you do not sign a treaty, the people of both countries will know that we are 
 distrustful of you, and it will be impossible for them to live with confidence, nor will mer- 
 chants risk their capital in your country.' 
 
 " W. ' His Majesty has always been friendly towards you. He has received you in 
 a distinguished manner, such as never was shown towards any other Envoy. He will 
 write a Itoyal letter to the most noble the Governor-General containing the sentiments 1 
 have already expressed ; and, surely, that will be higher and more worthy of confidence 
 than a treaty.' * 
 
 " E. ' Not according to our opinions. A treaty we can publish to the world. It gives 
 confidence to the people and to the surrounding countries. They then will believe that 
 
 * " I was not in a position to bring any proof of the existence of a treaty between Burma and China. 
 I did not therefore pursue the point. Colonel Burney in his Journal asserts the existence of a treaty 
 between them." — (P.) 
 
 (By reference to Colonel Burney's papers on the wars between Burma and China {Journal Asiatic 
 Society, Book vi. 121, etc.) it will be seen, that there was no treaty made between the Governments, but 
 that a convention in writing was drawn up by the Chinese generals, and accepted by the Burmese 
 negotiators. Though the King at the time disapproved of the convention it was acted upon. Perhaps 
 the Envoy might have referred to the treaty conceded by Alompra to Mr. Lister, in 1757. But it is very 
 doubtful whether the Burmese looked on this as a treaty.) 
 
 f Though the King is now the great merchant of the country, the Burmese have not yot quite got 
 rid of their old affectation of treating trade as a contemptible matter, unworthy of the consideration of 
 great statesmen. When Burney once at the lllwot-dau was urging the stipulations of Crawfurd's 
 Commercial Treaty, in reference to certain exactions, the old Kyee Woongyi bluntly said, " Have done 
 with this business ; it concerns merchants only, and is of little importance." 
 
OTTR HESinF,W!E AT TTTF, CAPITAL. ] ] 9 
 
 peace is really established, and that it will not be broken. This cannot be done with a 
 letter.' 
 
 " W. ' But our Envoys going with presents through your country ; your coming to 
 the Royal city with steamers, and a large escort, and presents from the English Ruler ; 
 the gentlemen of the mission going freely about the country, and seeing everything ; all 
 proclaim our friendship better than a treaty would. The people would not see and read 
 the treaty.' 
 
 " E. ' They might not, but it would be instantly known, and would make an impres- 
 sion of the stability of our friendship which nothing else can effect.' 
 
 " W. * It is not according to our custom to enter into treaties.' 
 
 " E. * Then I am to give this as the reply of His Majesty to the most noble the 
 Governor-General ? ' 
 
 " W. * Yes, and a Royal letter from His Majesty will be delivered to you to convey. I 
 entreat of you to do everything in your power, as I shall while I live, to preserve peace 
 between the two countries.' 
 
 " E. ' You may be assured the Governor-General is desirous of remaining at peace. 
 It is for that reason I am urgent for a treaty, because we are suspicious when a nation 
 talks of being peaceable and will not sign to it. I merely tell you what is a maxim amoncr 
 ourselves, and all civilized nations, and without any allusion to your motives for not en- 
 tering into a treaty. The English Ruler has a treaty with Cabul and with Siam. Those 
 nations were not at war with us, but they have entered into treaties.' 
 
 " The Woongyi, who really did not appear to support his argument with spirit, was 
 silent, and the Woondouk merely added, that when friendship already existed a treaty was 
 unnecessary and not according to their custom.* 
 
 " E. • I wish then a day to be named for my audience of leave with the King and the 
 Prince.' 
 
 " W. ' Do you wish to go to the Palace and the Heir-apparent the same day ?' 
 
 " E. 'I will do exactly as His Majesty wishes in the matter.' 
 
 " W. ' Then you had better go on separate days.' 
 
 " E. 'I should like to leave the capital on Monday next (22d October), and I request 
 you will order fuel to be prepared for the steamers. His Majesty's steamer, which I have 
 agreed to take, had, I think, better go on to Prome before us.' 
 
 u \y^ e Y^ e should wish yon, if possible, to take it in tow.' 
 
 " E. 'I will, if the Commander of the Nurbudda thinks there will be no risk in doing 
 so. The Rock Teacher is anxious to go to see the City of Moutsho-bo-myo ; is there any 
 objection to this?' 
 
 " W. * No objection ; but there really will be no use in his doing so. There are no 
 rocks to see ; it is mud the whole way. He cannot go now without great difficulty.' 
 
 " E. 'But he wishes to go very much.' 
 
 * " The real truth is, anything is custom, or not custom, among these people, according as they 
 desire or do not desire to do it." — (Burney's MS. Journal.) 
 
] 20 OUB RESIDENCE AT THE CAPITAL. 
 
 " W. * There are many very wonderful places to the eastward of this. One is called 
 the ' TIeit Twen ' (a well or pit) from people becoming tired (faint), who stoop over it.' 
 
 " E. ' How do you mean tired ? Is there water in the well ?' 
 
 " W. ' No ; it is a dry pit from which a sort of steam issues. People leaning over it 
 feel as if tired (faint), and hence the name 'Heit!' an exclamation indicating fatigue. 
 There is also, a few miles from the City, a very curious tree, hollow in the centre and 
 having water in it, which appears at an opening several feet above the ground. People 
 are fond of going there to wash their heads with that water. It appears to come up out 
 of the trunk of the tree, but whence nobody knows. It is drawn at a hollow in a fork of 
 the tree high up.' 
 
 " E. ' That is very extraordinary.' 
 
 « jjr < Would you like to see it ?' 
 
 "E. <I should.' 
 
 "W. 'What day?' 
 
 " E. * That I will say when the days for our visit to the Palace and to the Heir-ap- 
 parent are fixed. It is now late, and I must return.' Before leaving I went into the 
 Woongyi's wife's room to say good-by. The Woongyi jestingly told her, I had invited 
 him to England, and asked her if she would come. I also said the same, and the old lady 
 laughing replied, she had scarcely ever in her life been out of the capital and could not 
 undertake such a journey." 
 
 During the last few days we had met in the streets many symptoms of festivals, of 
 which a succession occurs at this season, being the termination of the Buddhist Lent.* 
 All sorts of offerings were being prepared in the town. We saw the tinmen in the suburbs 
 engaged in making a variety of fantastic tin shrines, and lanterns of enormous size to con- 
 tain wax candles more than two inches thick. The more elaborate offerings were paraded 
 about the streets. One party carried round a gigantic representation of the palm leaf, 
 which the poongyis carried as a sun shade, made of gaily painted paper, to which were 
 attached numerous little books of gold leaf; another dragged a tinsel tabernacle like the 
 tazeeas of Sheea Mahomedans at the Mohurrum ; another exhibited an enormous dragon 
 not less than a hundred feet long. This was formed of muslin distended by hoops, and 
 was furnished with a magnificently ferocious gilt head. He was very skilfully manipulated, 
 being made to wind and undulate along the street, and every now and then to dart his 
 fangs backwards at some passenger with very natural action, f 
 
 * This consists of the three months of the rainy season, during which the ancient wandering 
 Buddhist mendicants were enjoined to remain in a fixed habitation. The monks are expected during 
 this season to be doubly particular in abstraction from secular affairs, in abstinence and meditation ; and 
 it is the great season for preaching to the laity. The season is called by the Burmese W&, and in Ceylon 
 Wass. The name " is nothing more than Varsh or Warsh— the rainy season." — Note by Prof. 11. 11. 
 Wilson. 
 
 f One of the offerings to the monks on such occasions, described by Dr. Richardson in his manuscript 
 journal, is exactly the German Christmas tree. It represented a Pad6sa tree, the production of the 
 great Northern Island, a land of Cockayne where the inhabitants neither sow, nor reap, nor spin, nor 
 hunt ; for this precious tree bears all manner of food and raiment. — (See Snngermano, p. 8.) 
 
OUR RESIDENCE AT TIIE CAPITAL. 
 
 121 
 
 This afternoon we were much amused by two dancing elephants, which were brought 
 to exhibit before us at the Residency. One of these, a young elephant about six feet high, 
 was rather limited in the extent of his accomplishments, which consisted mainly in lifting 
 each of his four legs successively at the command of his mahout, in a sort of slow cadence, 
 and in walking on the knees (or wrists rather) of his fore legs. He also, at the command 
 " to walk like the Maids of Honour in the Palace," advanced towards us on his fore legs 
 only, dragging his hind legs after him like a train. 
 
 The larger animal, a tall lean tusker, was more accomplished. The words of com- 
 mand were bawled into his ear by the mahout, and were accompanied apparently by a 
 great deal of comment or explanatory discourse, whilst at every sentence the elephant 
 responded by a loud grunt of assent, which was intensely comical in effect. His great step 
 consisted in alternately lifting each fore leg, and flourishing it with a circular sweep, before 
 putting it again to the ground. Not the least amusing part of the performance lay in the 
 gestures of the mahouts, who on each side went violently through the actions and dances 
 which they intended the elephant to imitate, shouting and encouraging, and urging and 
 bravoing him, as he increased the speed and awkward agility of his movements in accord- 
 ance with the stimulation 
 applied. At last the hind legs 
 also came into play. They 
 were flung up alternately in 
 the air like the legs of a 
 kicking horse, but in a slow, 
 disjointed, and inappropriate 
 manner, that seemed to have 
 no connexion with the more 
 rapid pas that was going on 
 among the fore legs. The 
 grave aspect of the old ele- 
 phant's head and eye, all the time that his limbs were going through these unwonted 
 gambols, was very comical, and the whole was certainly a piece of admirable farce, 
 which drew shouts of laughter from English, Bengalees, and Burmese.* 
 
 * I remember five and twenty years ago, seeing an elephant known as Mademoiselle D'Jeek perform 
 in a play, and what was called a dance was one of her accomplishments. But she was very far behind 
 this old tusker. And I have heard of an elephant in India which was taught on bended knees to imitate 
 an old Moulvee droning the Koran, in a manner which shook the sides of the gravest sons of Islam in 
 spite of themselves. But the ancients had more patience or skill in the tuition of elephants. By Pliny 
 (Holland's translation, Book viii., chap. 2) we are told that " a common thing it was among them ... to 
 encounter and meet together in fight like sword-fencers ; and to make good sport in a kind of Moruke 
 dance ; and afterwards to go on ropes and cords ; to carry (four together) one of them laid at case in a 
 litter resembling the manner of women newly brought to bed," &c. 
 
 iElian (in his book De Animalium Naturd, Book ii., chap. II), also relates that when Gerrnanicus, the 
 nephew of Tiberiu3, was exhibiting spectacles at Rome, there were elephants which had been bred there 
 from tame parents, and thoroughly trained from their youth. So, when the show came off, twelve of 
 these appeared on the arena and performed various dances in admirable time to the music. Moreover, 
 
 It 
 
 Fig. 25. 
 
122 OUR RESIDENCE AT THE CAPITAL. 
 
 The King lias finally refused to sit for his portrait to Mr. Grant, The precise nature 
 of his objection does not appear. It is not from any superstition, but Major Phayro thinks 
 it arises from some fear that the portrait would not always be treated with deferential 
 respect.* 
 
 October 19</t. — To-day we went to pay a farewell visit to the Crown Prince. He 
 received us not in his own house, but in a sort of shed or temporary building in the outer 
 palace yard, vis-a-vis with the Hlwot-dau. This building is called the Qwon-douk-tai-dau, 
 and is set apart for the Prince's use when he attends at the palace or the Hlwot-dau. 
 
 The flooring was of bamboo merely, over which mats and carpets had been spread. 
 The Prince's two Woons or Ministers were present, and round the room was a gathering 
 of inferior officers. We sat down on the carpet opposite to a closed door, and had not 
 been kept long waiting when a few armed attendants entered at the side-passages, and im- 
 mediately the door in front of us opened. The Prince at once appeared and took his seat 
 on a sofa in the inner room, but close to the door. At the first glance it was evident that 
 His Highness had made up his mind to be gracious and agreeable, and he made indeed a 
 very much more favourable impression on us than he had done on our interview at his 
 house a month before. The moroseness of aspect which struck us on that occasion had 
 disappeared, and he looked much younger than in the unbecoming dress of the state- 
 reception. He was to-day in a plain white jacket and silk putso, with the chain of dignity 
 over his shoulder. He sat on the sofa in English fashion, instead of doubling up his legs 
 like his Royal Brother, and talked with a good-humoured air, and occasionally with a 
 broad hearty laugh. A certain likeness to the King was now apparent enough, but the 
 expression was very different. The Prince's is that of a strong-willed, boisterous, pas- 
 sionate man, with not much intellect or refinement, but not perhaps without kindly dis- 
 positions. There is more energy in his face than in the King's. 
 
 The Prince opened the conversation, as usual with the Burmese, by asking the age of 
 the Envoy, and of some of the gentlemen attached to the mission. He then proceeded, 
 addressing the Envoy : — 
 
 Prince. " His Majesty has a great regard for you." 
 
 Envoy. " I am very grateful to His Majesty for his kindness." 
 
 to the intense delight of the spectators, couches were spread and covered with rich damask, round mag- 
 nificent tables, which were loaded with bread and meat, and with great gold and silver vessels of water. 
 Then the elephants entered, six in male attire and six in female attire, lay down at the table, and at a 
 given signal commenced eating their dinner in the most genteel manner imaginable, showing neither 
 voracity nor selfish greed. And when they drank, it was done in moderation from the goblets, which 
 they took up in their trunks, and after drinking, besprinkled their neighbours with the remainder, in a 
 frolicsome and jocose manner, quite free from boorishness. 
 
 iElian himself testifies to having seen an elephant write Latin letters well and evenly, keeping his 
 eyes fixed on his work like any good boy at school ! 
 
 He says in several places that the elephants understood the Indian language ; a proof doubtless that 
 Mail ! and Baith ! and Mail dug I were phrases used in the Roman amphitheatre, as they are in the 
 Royal Zoological Gardens. 
 
 * The portrait at the beginning of this book is from a sketch by the present writer, which was gene- 
 rally considered a good likeness. 
 
OUR RESIDENCE AT THE CAPITAL. 123 
 
 Prince. (To Mr. Edwards.) "I remember you very well, when you were in Ava with 
 Burney. I was quite young then. You are just the same as you were then, not altered 
 at all. Is Burney still alive ? " 
 
 Mr. Edwards. " No, your Highness ; he died some ten or twelve years ago." 
 Envoy. " A son of Colonel Burney's was lately in Prome and Rangoon." 
 P. " What capacity did he come in ?" 
 E. " A teacher of religion " (clergyman).* 
 
 P. "Oh, a Poongyi ! Burney's son a Poongyi! (To Envoy.) Have you seen any of 
 the sulphur ore found in our country?" 
 
 E. " I have seen some of it, your Highness." 
 
 P. " There are great quantities ; whole mountains of it We did not know it before. 
 I supposed sulphur ore would be yellow, but some of it is darkish, and some white. On 
 that account we did not know before what it was." 
 
 Woond. (To En.) " Where do you procure sulphur from in England?" 
 E. " I believe the greater portion comes from Italy." 
 Prince. " Do you know how it is smelted, and the substance obtained?" 
 E. " I am sorry to say I do not know the process. I believe it is sublimated, but the 
 apparatus employed I am not acquainted with." 
 
 One of the Prince's officers here said, that by the Burmese and Shans it was obtained 
 from the fume of the ore. 
 
 P. " What nation first made gunpowder?" 
 
 E. " I am not quite sure, your Highness, whether it was first made in England or 
 Germany. Our books say that it was known from an earlier period in China." 
 P. " Probably that was so." 
 
 W. " Ah, you won't say where gunpowder was first made, because you want to make 
 it appear that it was in England." 
 
 E. " Not at all ; the point is a doubtful one : I tell you exactly what I know." 
 W. " Then, where were muskets first invented ? " 
 
 E. " I cannot tell you. The first use of cannon on record was by the English, some 
 five hundred years ago." 
 
 P. " Have you heard of the mountains in the Royal territory which cast a green 
 shade?" 
 
 E. " I have, your Highness ; but have not seen them." 
 P. "Nor have you seen the well, the fumes of which cause fatigue?" 
 E. " No, your Highness." 
 
 P. " And there is a very extraordinary tree, which has a constant supply of water in a 
 hollow at a fork in it, some height above the ground." 
 E. (To Woon.) "What description of tree is it?" 
 W. " There are two, and one of the trees is a large cotton tree." 
 P. " Did you ever see such an extraordinary object before in your country?" 
 
 * The Rev. H. B. Burney, the esteemed chaplain of General Godwin's army in 1852-53. 
 
1 24 OUB RESIDENCE AT THE CAPITAL. 
 
 E. " Never, your Highness ; I never even heard of such. There are many wonderful 
 objects in the Royal dominions." {Great satisfaction apparent in the assembly.) 
 
 P. " What nations first made steam-ships?" 
 
 E. " America, your Highness. The steam-engine was invented in England, and an 
 American adapted it to ships." 
 
 Woon. (To Envoy.) "Those are the people who went out from you, and you could 
 not govern them, and they set up for themselves." 
 
 E. " Precisely ; just as the people of Aracan, of your own race and religion, settled in 
 that country and had a king of their own, and you lost dominion over them." (Considerable 
 and good-humoured laughter at this reply.) 
 
 P. " England is a very cold country. Is it not ?" 
 
 E. " It is cold, your Highness. The water in the winter congeals." 
 
 P. " It is like China in that respect. Our Envoys who go to Pekin describe the cold 
 as frightful. Their faces bleed from it. Are there countries colder than England?" 
 
 E. " Several much colder." 
 
 P. " Name some of them ?" 
 
 E. " Iceland to the north, and the whole northern coast of North America." 
 
 P. (To Woond.) "Is Bengal cold?" 
 
 Woond. " Very much like the temperature of Amarapoora, your Highness." 
 
 P. " Is not Russia very cold?" 
 
 E. " Very cold, your Highness." 
 
 P. " I have heard that Bonaparte invaded Russia, and was killed by cold." 
 
 E. " His whole army, or very nearly all, were killed by the cold ; but he escaped." 
 
 P. " Of what country was Bonaparte?" 
 
 E. " He was of the same country as Don Paulo (Father Abbona). Born on an island 
 called Corsica, near the priest's country." 
 
 His Highness appeared to have exhausted his subjects of conversation, and was silent. 
 After a short interval, the Woondouk renewed inquiries as to Bonaparte. 
 
 Woond. " Did not you mention to me once that he was sent to an island?" 
 
 E. " Yes, for the general safety he was sent to an island on the west coast of Africa, 
 and kept there as a prisoner." 
 
 Woond. " And the present Emperor of France is his nephew?" 
 
 E. " He is." 
 
 P. " Which of all the nations is the greatest friend of England ?" 
 
 E. " France, your Highness. She is in close alliance with England, engaged together 
 in war." 
 
 P. " What is the distance from one country to the other." 
 
 E. " About twenty miles, which would be run by a steamer in little more than an 
 hour." 
 
 P. " Why, it is close at hand. There is no going by land from one to the other ? " 
 
 P. " No, your Highness ; England is an island." 
 
 P. " Which has most ships, England or France?" 
 
OUR RESIDENCE AT THE CAPITAL. 125 
 
 E. " England by far the most. France lias a larger army." 
 
 Woond. " Did you not mention once that the Queen of England was going to France ? " 
 
 E. " I did ; the Emperor and Empress lately came over to England, and the Queen of 
 England will now go to France. Besides the countries being so near, communication takes 
 place constantly by the Electric Telegraph, which is instantaneous. You have seen the 
 Electric Telegraph in Bengal, and you will be able to inform his Highness about it" 
 
 W. " They put a wire on posts above the ground, or bury it underneath, carrying it 
 over mountains and through rivers, and at certain stations apart there are magnetic needles, 
 which shake to denote the letters of the words of a message sent. Thus they converse 
 together though they are hundreds of miles apart."* 
 
 E. " From Amarapoora to Rangoon a message could be sent, and be understood there, 
 in a few seconds from the time it was given here." 
 
 W. "Now, where was the Electric Telegraph first discovered?" 
 
 E. " I believe the discovery was nearly contemporaneous in England and America." 
 
 W. " But it must have been first in one place or the other?" 
 
 E. " In Europe, where men of science are engaged in a great variety of studies, and 
 publish their views and opinions, similar discoveries are frequently made about the same 
 time in different countries." 
 
 P. " How long is it since it was known ?" 
 
 E. " About ten years, your Highness." The Prince then retired, observing we must 
 be fatigued. We remained for a few minutes speaking to his ministers, and then left. 
 
 " The Prince," observes Major Phayre, " spoke in a friendly manner. He has neither 
 the knowledge nor conversational powers of the King. He had evidently got up a few 
 subjects to ask about, which he no doubt had been informed I had discussed with different 
 Burmese ministers. The only original subjects he started were sulphur and gunpowder, 
 which he appeared to be considerably interested about." When these were disposed of, he 
 seemed to have no more to say. 
 
 The next day (the 20th October), we had our farewell audience of the King. The 
 Suwars of the Irregular Cavalry and half of the Europeans accompanied us to the Palace 
 to see the white elephant, as well as the band, which the King, we understood, had 
 expressed some curiosity to hear. The locality and all the circumstances of the reception 
 were the same as on the last occasion. The girls of the royal troupe were circling in the 
 Myi Nan, and the fair minstrels with their pagoda-crowns and quaint lappets were harping 
 in the verandas. 
 
 After about twenty minutes the King entered, and sat down on the sofa in the half- 
 
 * It would be hard to give a better popular explanation of the Electric Telegraph than this of the 
 Woondouk's. Moung Mhon, though not very well mannered, was a very intelligent man. When taken 
 by Major Phayre and Colonel Baker to make a short excursion on the East India Railway he was told of 
 the great rate at which they were travelling. Without making any remark he asked the interval between 
 the telegraph posts along the line, and having by counting the beats of his own pulse made a mental 
 estimate of the rapidity with which these intervals were past, he then assented. " Yes, we are indeed 
 going very fast." No native of India would have thought of such a thing. 
 
1 26 OUR RESIDENCE AT THE CAPITAL. 
 
 reclining attitude. He had a single gold tsalwe of twenty-four strings, worn in the usual 
 manner. He was silent for nearly a minute, and then said : 
 
 K. " When will you return ? " 
 
 E. " The day after to-morrow, your Majesty." 
 
 K. " How many days shall you be going down ? " 
 
 E. " We could go in three days, but I wish to stop at Pagan, and elsewhere." 
 
 K. (To Atwin-woon.) " See that everything is prepared, and that nothing is wanting 
 to make them comfortable." 
 
 At. " Your Majesty's command will be borne on the tops of our heads." 
 
 (A considerable pause.') 
 
 K. (To Envoy). " Have you read any of the books I sent you ?" 
 
 E. " I have looked into the Maha-Radza-Weng, your Majesty ; but have not had time 
 to study it." 
 
 K. " Do not lay them by, but study them, so that you may derive advantage therefrom." 
 
 E. " I will, your Majesty." 
 
 K. " Are all the gentlemen of the mission well?" 
 
 E. « They are all well." 
 
 K. " Have you had everything as you wished since you arrived?" 
 
 E. " We have ; thanks to your Majesty." 
 
 K. " Anything you want more, let the Woondouk know, and he will attend to your 
 wishes." 
 
 " What are the names of the gentlemen I have not seen?" 
 
 (The several gentlemen of the mission, not yet introduced, were mentioned.) 
 
 K. " Is Major Allan here? Is it he that is stationed at Thayet Myo, or Ardagh?" 
 
 Woond. " It is Allan who is here, and he is stationed at Meaday and Thayet Myo. 
 Ardagh is at Prome." 
 
 K. ( To Envoy). " Tell Allan that the Kala Woon (Makertich) will now have jurisdic- 
 tion down to Thayet Myo district, and as they arc neighbours they must be good friends. 
 Allan I hope will sometimes go to see him, and the Kala. Woon go to see Allan. Now 
 that the two nations are friends, everything must be done to preserve friendship; the two 
 countries are as one country. Friendship is often broken by the folly and mismanagement 
 of inferior persons ; almost all quarrels have arisen from that, and not from misunder- 
 standing between leading men." 
 
 Envoy. " It is very true, your Majesty." 
 
 K. " Men of judgment and moderation should be placed on the frontier. It is a very 
 easy thing to quarrel, but to settle a quarrel is difficult Hatred may arise from a single 
 word ; nevertheless by care, the beginning of a quarrel may be prevented. It is easy also 
 to make a temporary friendship, but difficult to make it permanent. Our endeavours 
 should be to render it so." 
 
 E. " Certainly, your Majesty, and such we are anxious to make it" 
 
 K. « What English Myo- Woon is on the Toungoo frontier?" 
 
 E. " Mr. O'lliley, your Majesty." 
 
OUR RESIDENCE AT THE CAPITAL. 127 
 
 K. " As the two countries are as one country, should any one wish to come from the 
 English country into mine, he would not be prevented?" 
 
 E. " Certainly not, your Majesty." 
 
 K. " If you can get the relic of Sariputra, and the original casket in which it was 
 contained, write and let me know.* It is an object that we worship." 
 
 E. " I will do so, if possible." 
 
 K. (To Mr. Camaretta). " See that everything is prepared for their journey." 
 
 (To Envoy). " Is there anything else you wish to say?" 
 
 E. " Nothing, but to thank your Majesty for all the kindness you have shown since we 
 arrived in your dominions." 
 
 K. " Those who are grateful we call excellent people, and those who know not 
 gratitude the Burmese consider unworthy. At the present season this city is very muddy, f 
 In the summer it is hot. In the cold season is the best time to come. I regard all the 
 gentlemen of the mission as I would my own nobles, and hereafter, though Phayre should 
 not come, I shall be glad to see any one (of them) in my Palace. The Kala Woon will 
 now go down with you to the frontier, and I hope he and Allan will be good friends." 
 
 E. " There is an English band in attendance, if your Majesty would wish to hear it" 
 
 K. (Smiling). " I have not much fancy for music. I seldom listen to the musicians in 
 the Palace. I have no doubt, though, the nobles of the court would like to hear it." 
 
 E. " Mr. Grant, the artist has brought his picture of the white elephant to present your 
 Majesty." 
 
 K. " I shall like to see it." 
 
 One of the Atwcn-woons took up the picture to the King, who looked at it care- 
 fully for some time, and then said — 
 
 " Is this a print?" When assured that it was drawn, he said, — " The foreigners draw 
 a picture to make it a true likeness ; our Burmese people draw for show, and to make it. 
 appear handsome. Bring our picture of the white elephant." 
 
 The Burmese artist's picture of the white elephant was now brought, and given to the 
 Envoy by the King's orders. 
 
 The King then flung oft' the sofa in the usual ungracious fashion, and stalked away 
 through the vista of golden doorways. And so we saw him no more. 
 
 His Majesty seemed nervous and ill at ease during this interview, and showed little of 
 his usual vivacity. He was constantly putting pan into his mouth, and discharging it 
 again, sending a cheroot to be lighted, letting it go out and sending again, &c. Before we 
 quitted the Palace he sent a message by Mr. Camaretta to say that he was suffering from 
 headache, which was the reason why he had left so soon. 
 
 * The King it seems, from heaving what I said about the relics in the topes of Bhilsa, had jumped to 
 the conclusion that there would be no difficulty in his getting them. I through Mr. Camaretta had 
 before begged it to be understood that I would enquire about the relics, but could give no hope as to 
 procuring them for the King. — {Note by Major Phayre). 
 
 t I believe the King meant here that he supposed we had not been so comfortable as we ought to 
 have been, in consequence of the wet weather. — {Major Phayre). 
 
128 OTJIl RESIDENCE AT THE CAPITAL. 
 
 After he retired we sat a short time with the Atwen-woons, and partook of some re- 
 freshment. These gentlemen were exceedingly polite, declaring that they felt quite 
 miserable at the prospect of our departure, and that this was not said from mere politeness, 
 but in truth and sincerity ! 
 
 We then had the band brought to play in the My 6 Nan, where it woke the echoes in 
 unwonted style. The Burmese listened, I think, with more curiosity than enjoyment The 
 music was too loud for their taste (being all brass), and in this they were not wrong.* 
 
 The Envoy paid farewell visits to the Magwe Mengyi, and to Mr. Camaretta, before 
 returning home. 
 
 October 2\st. — Some of our party went on board the steamers last night, or early this 
 morning. The four Woongyis came over to breakfast and say good-by. Let us recapitu- 
 late their names. First, then, there was the old Magwe Mengyi, with his sagacious 
 Medicean countenance. Then the Mein-loung Mengyi, a stout and jovial elderly man, with 
 a very pleasant honest face and hearty manner. Next came the quondam Pabe Woon, or 
 Master of the Ordnance, now known as the Myadoung Mengyi, a thin, pock-marked, acute, 
 and well-mannered man, who asked many questions about our artillery in the Russian war, 
 its calibre and ranges. The last was the Pakhan Woongyi, the youngest and the least 
 pleasing of the four pillars of state, a bilious-looking personage with large dark eyes and 
 cold awkward manners. lie was a priest, till summoned by the present King to take his 
 place at court. 
 
 The party remained till nearly twelve o'clock, and made themselves very agreeable. 
 The three elder Woongyis were very pleasant and jocular, friendly, and good-humoured. 
 The old Lord of Mein-loung seemed to take a deep interest in the progress of the Crimean 
 war, and asked permission to write down my answers to his questions. These related to 
 the distances from England to Sebastopol, from England to St. Petersburg, from Sebastopol 
 to India, &c. and to the number of ships, men, and guns on both sides. A tsa-ye-gyi, or 
 clerk, with his steatite pencil and black note-book, was busily taking down my answers, 
 when we were called to breakfast. 
 
 The Master-general likewise asked many questions as to why the war lasted so long, 
 why we went to war, &c. In answer to the last I endeavoured to explain that Russia was 
 getting too powerful for the safety of Europe. This excited great laughter, probably from 
 some application nearer home. 
 
 In conversing about the former English embassies we were perplexed to know whom 
 they referred to as Mi-ke-Then. But Colonel Symes's Christian name occurring to me, it 
 became evident that Mi-kd- Then was Michael Symes I 
 
 In the meantime the Magwe Mengyi had a last private interview with Major Phayre, 
 principally about border politics. 
 
 At last they departed, promising to send the King's letter presently. We were not 
 without some doubt that the said letter had still to be written. Everything was now gone 
 
 * Curiously enough, the Burmese ambassadors, who went to Pekin in 1787, took with them a Bur- 
 mese band, which they made to play before the Emperor, " who approved of it, and said it was very 
 pleasant." — {Col. Burney in Jour. As. Soc. Ben. vi. 415. 
 
our residence at the capital. 129 
 
 on board, but we waited till near sunset, and still no letter appeared. As the Envoy 
 supposed that the Burmese would themselves (in accordance with our Calcutta precedent) 
 convey the letter on board the steamer, he thought it necessary to delay our departure 
 no longer. 
 
 The Burmese regiment on duty at the Residency, which bears the name of the Letya 
 Gyoung, and each man of which had a figure like a spire tattooed in red on his side, was 
 drawn out to escort us. We had not reached the lake, when it was announced that the 
 procession with the King's letter was crossing the causeway over the water a little to the 
 west of the Residency. So we halted, and the sun had set before it reached us. 
 
 The procession was led by a few mounted men in the absurd war-dress, with some 
 foot soldiers and music. The letter was borne by a Nakhangyi on an elephant, in a gilt 
 howda with a large round golden shield hanging on each side of hiin, and he a wizened old 
 creature decked out in tinsel and gold like the tragedy-king at an English fair. 
 
 The Burmese do not appear on such occasions to entrust a King's letter to a high 
 official, probably to make the respect shown to the document itself more unmistakeable. 
 Eight golden umbrellas were borne over it. 
 
 As twilight was now rapidly falling, and we had several miles to go, the Envoy pro- 
 posed that instead of continuing the procession across the long bridge as the Burmese 
 intended, the letter should at once be embarked on the Zenobia's gig, and the whole party 
 should proceed in the several steamer's boats which were ready on the lake. This was 
 agreed to. The Woondouk took the precious document from the hands of the poor old 
 Nakhangyi, who had with some difficulty dismounted from his elephant, and delivered it 
 to the Envoy on the bank of the lake, saying : " This is a royal letter from His Majesty 
 the King to the English ruler." The Envoy received it and handed it to the Secretary, 
 who placed it on a gilt salver, and carried it on board the gig, which immediately 
 hoisted the Company's Jack. 
 
 The envelope was a curious affair and very heavy, consisting of two large tubes of 
 some hard substance enclosed in a crimson velvet bag, and sealed with several seals. These 
 were ivory cylinders about fifteen inches long, containing letters from the King and the 
 Hlwot-dau respectively. Some of the seals represented the peacock ; others were of a 
 symbol not easily understood, but perhaps intended to indicate the sacred palace. The 
 Envoy deferred opening the letter for translation until we had crossed our own frontiers. 
 The translation will be found in the Appendix. It will be seen that the King avoids any 
 distinct mention of the subject of the draft-treaty offered for his acceptance, although 
 Major Phayre, from words used by the Magwe Woongyi on the 16th, had been led to 
 expect that some explanation would be made on the subject The King's personal obser- 
 vations to the Envoy at the audience of leave were perhaps considered sufficient to show 
 His Majesty's desire to maintain peace and friendly relations with the British Government. 
 
 We passed down the Sagyeenwa Creek, and did not reach the steamers till after dark. 
 The Woondouk, having escorted us on board, returned to the city. The old Nan-ma-dau 
 Phra Woon had been for some time waiting to take leave of the Envoy, and had brought 
 his youngest daughter. But we were so late that they had taken their departure. 
 
 s 
 
CHAPTER V. 
 
 THE CITY OF AMAUArOOKA. 
 
 Etymology of the Name and Foundation of the City — Abandonment, Ill-omened — Reoccupation — Site 
 — Fortifications — Plan — Palace described — Four-square City — Powder Magazine — the White Ele- 
 phant — Ordnance — Hlwot-dau — Relic Depository — Great Aracan Gun — Yoom-dau — Tara-yoom 
 (Civil Court) — Judges and their Emoluments— Appeals — the Gaol — the Streets of the City — the 
 Gates — Booths of Petty Dealers — Houses of Dignitaries — Precedent the Divinity worshipped in 
 Burma — Pegu in the 16th Century — Number of Houses and Population in the City — the Suburbs 
 — Brick Buildings — Derivation of Anglo-Indian Vocables — Foreigners, Mr. Spears — Mr. Camaretta 
 — Armenians — Makertich — Greeks, none now — Moguls — Jealousy of us entertained by Armenians 
 and Moguls — Father Abbona and the Native Christians — the Chinese Ward — their Temple — the 
 Overland Trade with China — Cotton — the Tikal and Viss — Route by Bam6 — the Town of Bam6 — 
 the River of Bam6, and Curious Geographical Statements — Minor Articles of Traffic — Noble Ser- 
 pentine (or Yu) — Amber, &c. — Kakhyens and Karens — Imports — Silk — Minor Notions — Other 
 Boute by the more Southerly Shan States— Momien — 'Opium — Tin — Sulphur — Estimate of the 
 Value of Exported Cotton and Imported Silk — of the whole Trade — Customs Charges — Paloungs 
 and their Hlapet, or Wet Tea — China in the Character of a Te&-importing Country — the Chinese 
 Merchants — the Mahomedans of Burma — Mosques — Strange Temple — Other Buddhist Temples — 
 Trades — Silk-dealers — Silk-weavers — Kath6s orMunnipooreeans — the All-Useful Bamboo — Articles 
 woven in Silk, the Putso and Tamein — Sumptuary Laws — Female Costume — Calico-Printing — 
 Lackered Ware — Small Wares — the Shans — Brass-founders, Bells, Gongs, and Weights — Tinsmiths, 
 Lanterns, Shrines— Mosaic Work of Tin, Glass, and Gilding— the Dim— Inlaid Panel Work- 
 Carving and Gilding — Carpentry — Architects of Monasteries — Elephant Carved in Teak — Box- 
 making — Mirror-making — Glass-blowing — Earthenware — Gold and Silver Work — Markets — Fruit 
 — Hlapet — Rice — Al-fresco Restaurants — Chinese and Mahomedan Burying-grounds — Colossal 
 Gautama — Ngape — the Dorian — Prostitution and Debt-Slavery — the other Suburbs — the Water 
 Palace — the Aracan Temple — Ecclesiastical Ribbon-weaving — the Golden Monasteries described — 
 Prejudice against allowing Inferiors to occupy a Higher (Physical) Position — Singular and Artistic 
 Humorous Sculptures — the Aracan Temple and Image — Pagoda Slaves— and Copies of Old Inscrip- 
 tions— Largest Monastery — Lake and Bunds — Brick Monastery — Miserable End of the Builder. 
 
 The present seat of the Burmese monarchy has no pretensions to antiquity. The name is 
 Pali, of kindred etymology to that of the Sikh city of Amritsur; and is met with, 
 though not very commonly, as a local name in India, It signifies " The Immortal City." * 
 The city was founded by the King commonly known to us as Mentaragyi Phra, the 
 fourth son of Alompra, and him to whose court Colonel Symes was deputed in 1795, the 
 great-grandfather of the present King and his deposed brother, and usually spoken of 
 by the Burmans as the Bodau Phya or Grandfather King. His long reign ran contem- 
 porarily with a great part of the still longer reign of George the Third. Soon after his 
 accession by the deposition and murder of one nephew, who had been his tool in the de- 
 position and murder of another nephew, he founded this capital, and transferred to it the 
 
 * Bather, the " City of the Immortals," named after the capital of Indra. Amritsar is the " Lake of 
 ambrosia," from the piece of water in the midst of which stands the chief temple of the Sikhs. ( W.) 
 
THE CITY OF AMAUAPOORA. ] 3 1 
 
 seat of the government from the neighbouring city of Ava, which, with one or two brief 
 interruptions, had continued to be the metropolis for four centuries. 
 
 According to Father Sangermano, who was then at Ava, the King took possession of 
 his new Palace on the 10th of May, 1783. 
 
 King Mentaragyi died in 1819, after a reign of thirty-eight years ; and three years 
 later, his grandson and successor abandoned the new city, and rebuilt the Palace at Ava.* 
 This renewed supremacy of the old capital lasted however, only fifteen years. In 1837, 
 the King's brother, the Prince of Tharawadi, seized the throne, and after an interval of 
 residence at Kyouk-myoungjf again removed the seat of government to Amarapoora, 
 where it has since remained.! 
 
 The abandonment of Amarapoora ill 1822 was looked on as an ill-omened act, and the 
 people had a notion that the disasters of the war of 1824-26 were connected with it. 
 The royal residence had always previously, at least since a very remote era, been moved 
 up the river, from Prome to Pagan, from Pagan to Panya, from Panya to Ava, from Ava 
 to Amarapoora ; the retrogression brought bad luck.§ 
 
 The city || stands on slightly elevated ground, which in the flood season forms a long 
 peninsula communicating with the mainland naturally only at the northern end. Walled 
 embankments and wooden bridges, some of them of extraordinary length, connect this 
 peninsula with the country to the eastward, southward, and south-westward. On the 
 north-west side runs a wide creek from the Irawadi. From this, however, the waters 
 of the latter now retire altogether in the dry season, and the small supply which is found 
 at that time in the channel is derived from a tributary stream flowing down from the 
 fruitful district of Ma-de-ya. The city, except in the highfloods, is accessible from the 
 present main stream of the Irawadi only near the extremity of the western suburb. 
 
 The eastern and southern sides of the peninsula are defined by an extensive hollow, 
 which from July to November forms a chain of considerable lakes, filled partly by the flood- 
 waters of the Myit-nge (or "Little River"), a river of very considerable size and very 
 contorted channel, which issues from the mountainous Shan country eastward of the 
 capital, and joins the Irawadi close to Ava. The southern lake also communicates with 
 the Irawadi directly by the channel which terminates the peninsula to the westward. 
 
 * The site of Amarapoora does not appear to have been deserted by the people, and the Chinese 
 always adhered to it. Indeed in 1836, though the area within the walls was unoccupied, the population 
 of the suburbs bore 'comparison with that of Ava itself. — (V. Malcolm's Travels in S. E. Asia, vol. i. 
 p. 128, and Burney's MS. Journal) 
 
 t Kyouk-myoung is on the west bank of the river forty miles above the capital, and the nearest 
 point of the Irawadi to Moutshobo, the birthplace of Alompra, and often the resort of his descendants. 
 
 X In Thornton's Gazetteer of India, published in the present year (1857), Ava is described at length out 
 of Crawfurd's narrative as still the capital of Burma. Ava has been almost a wilderness for twenty years. 
 
 § Burney's MS. Journal. There was a talk on this account of returning to Amarapoora several years 
 before Tharawadi did so. The amiable and philosophic Prince of Mekhara having just learned from 
 his English instructor what a syllogism was, composed an unexceptionable syllogism adverse to the 
 movement, and went off to the levee with his major and minor full-cock to let off at the King. But he 
 found his royal nephew in no mood for logic, and suppressed them. — {The same) 
 
 || See plan accompanying, reduced from Major Allan's survey. — (PI. 23.) 
 
132 
 
 THE CITY OF AMABAPOORA. 
 
 The city proper of Amarapoora is laid out four-square, at the widest part of the 
 peninsula. It is bounded by a defensive wall of brick about twelve or thirteen feet high, 
 with a battlemented parapet. The wall is partially backed by an earthen rampart, but 
 
 this is nowhere completed to any 
 useful extent. The four sides are 
 each a little short of a mile in length, 
 and are exactly alike, excepting that 
 at the north-west, where the river- 
 channel comes close under the walls, 
 the angle of the square has been 
 cut off obliquely. Each side has three 
 gates, and from eleven to thirteen 
 bastions, including those through 
 which the gates are cut. 
 
 At an interval of about a hun- 
 dred feet from the walls a ditch 
 nearly eighty feet in width extends 
 
 Fig. 20. 
 
 along the east and west sides, the greater portion of 'the north, and about half the 
 south. This ditch is from sixteen to eighteen feet deep, and has both escarp and 
 counterscarp of brick. It contracts to a width of about twelve feet at the gates, and plank 
 bridges are there thrown across it. A battlemented parapet runs, as a sort of faussebraye, 
 along the top of the escarp, and some of the gates are covered by meagre barbicans or 
 traverses, similar in character to the city wall. 
 
 The material of all these works is indifferent brickwork, built with mud mortar, 
 excepting the gateways and the copings of some of the walls, where lime is used. No 
 cannon are at present mounted on any of the bastions. The works altogether, in the hands 
 of the Burmese, would probably be less formidable than a respectable stockade. 
 
 Within these defences the streets are laid out parallel to the four walls, running from 
 gate to gate and cutting up the city into rectangular blocks. 
 
 The Palace occupies the centre, its walls being laid symmetrically with those of the 
 city.* It has three successive inclosures. Outside of all is a high palisade of teak posts, 
 and about forty feet within this a brick wall. On the east side, in which the public 
 entrance lies, an esplanade then intervenes of about a hundred and forty yards in width, 
 succeeded by a second brick wall with a double gateway. I do not know the arrange- 
 ments on the other sides of the Palace. 
 
 There is a gate in the centre of each of the four sides, but that to the eastward, or 
 front, only is public. Each gate and side of the Palace is under the charge of an officer 
 
 * This four-square city with the Palace in the centre is the characteristic form of the old Burm&h 
 cities, e. g. Pegu, Sagain, Toungoo, and Tavoy. It has perhaps a mythic origin. The Trayaslrinsha, or 
 abode of Iudra, and the thirty-two do was, is represented in the Buddhist books as a city of a square form 
 having a square Palace in the centre. — {Pilgrimage of Fahian, p. 124; and Sangermano, p. 14.) But 
 the walled cities in the interior of China are, I believe, also generally square. 
 
Ill 
 
 o 
 < 
 
THE CITY OF AMAKAPOORA. 133 
 
 of rank, known as the Commander of the North Gate, of the West Gate, and so on. 
 Wherever the King goes on land or water, these officers are supposed to be in attendance 
 on the side assigned to them, for the King's security.* 
 
 Entering the inner brick wall from the east, you find yourself in front of the Mye-nan 
 or Earthen Palace (as it is called from having a clay floor), the principal Hall of Audience. 
 This stands on a terrace of plastered brickwork some two hundred and sixty feet long by 
 ten or twelve high, and exhibits to the front a central triple gable, with colonnaded wings 
 crowned with a roof in two stages after the usual Burmese fashion ; the whole being of 
 timber covered with gold leaf. The central part of the building runs back to a depth of 
 sixty or seventy feet, and at the extremity of this is the throne. Just over the throne, and 
 so placed, to the best of Burman ability, as to occupy the exact centre of the Palace and 
 of the city, rises, in eight diminishing stages, a graceful phja-sath or wooden spire, similar 
 to those often attached to monastic buildings, and crowned with the gilded Htee, an honour 
 which royalty alone partakes with ecclesiastical sanctity. This spire also has been gilt, 
 but it is sadly tarnished and has lost all brilliance of effect. 
 
 Behind this principal structure are smaller audience-chambers, the office of the Atwen- 
 woons (or Household Councillors) called the Bya-deit, &c. All these are timber buildings, 
 roofed in diminishing stages, and more or less carved and gilt in the usual style of the 
 ecclesiastical buildings, but very inferior to them in richness of workmanship. 
 
 The private apartments are to the westward, where a series of carved and gilded 
 gables roofed with glittering zinc plates is visible over the walls. 
 
 There are only one or two brick buildings of any prominence within the Palace pre- 
 cincts. The most conspicuous is a square tower, said to have been erected as a treasury 
 by King Tharawadi, the top of which is crowned with a gilt pavilion which serves as a 
 belvedere, where the King occasionally amuses himself at eventide with his spyglass. 
 
 The powder magazine is still maintained within the Palace walls, notwithstanding the 
 alarming explosion in Tharawadi's time, which is sometimes said first to have decidedly 
 unhinged that Prince's mind. It stands in the south-west corner of the outer yard. 
 
 In the area which stretches before the Hall of Audience are several detached buildings. 
 A little to the north is the " Palace " or state apartment*of the Lord White Elephant, with 
 his highness's humbler every-day residence in rear. To the south are sheds for the vulgar 
 herd of the same species,f and brick godowns in which the state carriages and golden 
 litters (the latter massive and gorgeous in great variety of design) are stowed away. Tem- 
 porary buildings, used as barracks and gunsheds, run along the wall. 
 
 The present white elephant has occupied his post for at least fifty years. I have no 
 doubt he is the same which Padre Sangermano mentions as having been caught in 1806, 
 to the great joy of the King, who had just lost the preceding incumbent, a female which 
 died after a year's captivity. 
 
 He is a very large elephant, close upon ten feet high, with as noble a head and pair of 
 tusks as I have ever seen. But he is long-bodied and lanky, and not otherwise well made 
 
 * Burncy. 
 
 t The Burmese do not appear to use the female elephant ; all the King's that we saw were tuskers. 
 Nor did we see any of the tuskleas males, or uuMnas, which are so common in Bengal. 
 
134 THE CITY OF AMARAPOORA. 
 
 as an elephant He is sickly and out of condition, and is in fact distempered daring five 
 months of the year, from April to August. His eye, the iris of which is yellow with a 
 reddish outer annulus, and a small clear black pupil, lias an uneasy glare, and his keepers 
 evidently mistrust his temper. We were always warned against going near his head. 
 The annulus round the iris of the eye is pointed out as resembling a circle of the nine gems. 
 His colour is almost uniform all over; nearly the ground-tint of the mottled or 
 freckled part of the trunk and ears of common elephants, perhaps a little darker. He also has 
 pale freckles in the same parts. On the whole he is well entitled to his appellation of white. 
 His royal paraphernalia, which are set out when visitors are expected, are sufficiently 
 splendid. Among them was a driving-hook about three feet long, the stem of which was 
 a mass of small pearls, girt at frequent intervals with bands of rubies, and the hook and 
 handle of crystal tipped with gold. His headstall was of fine red cloth plentifully studded 
 with fine rubies, and near the extremity having some valuable diamonds. To fit over the 
 two bumps of the forehead were circles of the nine gems, which are supposed to be charms 
 against evil influences. 
 
 When caparisoned he also wore on the forehead, like other Burmese dignitaries, including 
 the King himself, a golden plate inscribed with his titles, and a gold crescent set with 
 circles of large gems between the eyes. Large silver tassels hung in front of his ears, and 
 he was harnessed with bands of gold and crimson set with large bosses of pure gold. He 
 is a regular " estate of the realm," having a Woon or minister of his own, four gold 
 umbrellas, the white umbrellas which are peculiar to royalty, with a suite of attendants 
 said to be thirty in number. The Burmese who attended us removed their shoes before 
 entering his " Palace." 
 
 The elephant has an appanage, or territory assigned to him " to eat," like any other dig- 
 nitary of the empire. I do not know where his estate is at present, but in Burney's time it 
 was the rich cotton district of Taroup Myo. 
 
 There are frequent reports of the capture of white elephants, which cause excitement 
 at the Court ; but almost invariably they turn out to be mere pretenders to the character, 
 perhaps a little paler in colour than usual. One such was brought to Court in 1831, and 
 village revenues assigned for his maintenance. But the Government was hard pressed to 
 pay the last instalments of the Yandabo indemnity money, and the rents of the new Sen- 
 meng (Lord Elephant) were taken up for the purpose. An address from the King, 
 written on a long palm-leaf, was formerly laid before the elephant, requesting him not 
 to take it amiss that his revenues were devoted to the payment of the KaKis, for the whole 
 should be refunded within two months. (Burney's MS. Journals.)* 
 
 * The Hindoos look on the white elephant with some religious veneration, perhaps connecting him 
 with Airawata, the elephant of Indr.>, from which the Great River, the lr&vati or Irawadi, derives its 
 title, like the Hydraotes or Ravee of the Punjaub. And occasionally a wandering Hindoo devotee 
 finds his way to Amarapoora, and has a " dursun " (interview of worship) of the white elephant. 
 
 The importance attached to the possession of a white elephant is traceable to the Buddhist system. 
 A white elephant of certain wonderful endowments is one of the seven precious things, the possession 
 of which marks the Maha ChaJcravartti Raja, " the great Wheel-turning King," the holy and universal 
 sovereign, a character who appears once in a cycle, at the period when the waxing and waning term of 
 human life has reached its maximum of an asankhya in duration. — (See ante, p. 106. See notes to Travels 
 of Fahian, Cal. 1848. 
 
THE CITY OF AMABAPOORA. 1 35 
 
 The oldest mention of a white elephant is probably that by ^Elian in his book De 
 Animalium Naturd, which abounds in wonderful Elephantiana. In Book iii. chap. 46, he 
 tells the story of an Indian elephant tamer, who had caught a young white elephant which 
 he treated with great affection, reciprocated by the animal. The King of the Indians 
 hearing of the capture, sent to demand the elephant. The man would not part with his 
 pet and escaped with it into the jungles, but was at last caught and slain. The elephant 
 took up the body of his master and carried it to his shed, where he cherished it like a 
 faithful friend, &c. 
 
 Ibn Batuta in his Travels {circa 1350) mentions that the Emperor of Ceylon had a 
 white elephant upon which he rode on feast days, having first placed on his head some 
 large rubies, &c. {Trans, by Prof. Lee, 1829, p. 187.) 
 
 The present King of Burma never rides the white elephant, but his uncle used to do 
 so -frequently, acting as his own mahout, which was one of the Royal accomplishments of 
 ancient Indian Kings. 
 
 The first modern European mention of the white elephant that I have met with is by 
 Nicolo di Conti, who was at Ava circa 1440. {Ramusio, Raccolta, vol. i.) 
 
 Along the front of the basement of the Audience Hall are planted some twenty pieces 
 of artillery, selected for size or workmanship. There are among these two large brass 
 guns of about twenty-four pounder calibre but greatly heavier metal, which, if of Burmese 
 casting, as something in their character indicates, are very creditable to the skill of the 
 people. There are also some fantastic pieces of small calibre, in the form of dragons with 
 extended jaws and bristling spines down the back, which are beautifully cast. These are 
 said to have been captured from the Siamese. 
 
 In the esplanade between the two walls of the palace enclosure there are not many 
 buildings. The principal is the Hlwot-dau, or royal council house, where the ministers 
 (Woongyis and Woondouks) daily assemble. This is a large open pavilion of timber, 
 handsomely painted and adorned with gilding, standing near the gate, in immediate contact 
 
 Hence the possession of a white elephant is a sort of ensign of universal sovereignty. 
 
 I am not able to say how far the elephant is now regarded by the more intelligent Burmese with 
 genuine superstition, and how far merely as a traditional appendage of royal state, like the cream- 
 coloured horses that draw our good Queen to open and prorogue her Parliaments But I have heard 
 that the present King, whose conscience perhaps troubles him sometimes with misgivings as to the 
 necessary usurpation which placed him on hia brother's throne, would gladly hail the capture of a real 
 white elephant in his own day as an assent from the Powers of Nature to his own legitimate royalty. 
 
 In 1834, a (so-called) white elephant was born from a female caught shortly before in one of the 
 forests of the Madras Presidency, and in 1838 was sent to Maulmain, with some idea of its being pre- 
 sented to the King of Ava. This was very properly given up, as it would only have been interpreted as 
 an acknowledgment of our unworthiness to retain such a symbol of lawful sovereignty. It had however 
 some lamentable blemish in the hairs of its tail, which sadly marred its claims to sanctity. 
 
 One of the virtuous acts of Gautama in pre-existence as a Prince of Benares was that of giving away 
 a white elephant, (Hardy's Man, p. 116). Was the Governor-General of 1838 (Lord Auckland), aware 
 of the meritorious nature of the act which he purposed ? 
 
 These elephant albinoes would appear to be more common in the forests of Camboja and the 
 Southern Laos, than in the regions subject to Ava. When Mr. Crawfurd was at Bankok, in 1822, the 
 King of Siam had six white elephants, and a number of others having unusually large patches of white 
 skin. All elephants nearly have some white about the trunk, ears, and throat. At p. 95, 1 have noticed 
 the occurrence of human albinoes in the Indo-Chinese countries as apparently not unfrequent. 
 
136 
 
 TIIE CITY 01' AMAIUrOOIU. 
 
 with the outside of the inner Palace wall. Immediately within this wall, and communi- 
 cating over it with the Hlwot-dau, is another considerable building richly gilt all over. 
 This contains a throne, and is intended for the King's occupancy when he thinks proper to 
 attend the meetings of the Hlwot-dau. This, however, he rarely if ever does. One of the 
 Woondouks remains in attendance all night at the Hlwot-dau, to receive any orders which 
 may issue from the Palace. 
 
 Besides the Hlwot-dau the esplanade contains large sheds for the accommodation of the 
 attendants and horses of the councillors ; a square edifice representing tlie depository of a 
 tooth of Gautama which in ancient times was preserved within the royal precincts,* and a 
 high tower from which the watches are struck in alternate strokes on the big bell and big 
 
 drum. The remoter 
 corners of the espla- 
 nade are occupied by 
 the King's work- 
 shops. 
 
 A little on one 
 side of the approach 
 between the two 
 walls lies a singular 
 and enormous piece 
 of ordnance, which 
 was brought from 
 Aracan on the con- 
 quest of that country 
 
 in the last century. In construction it is similar to the great bombard called Mons Meg in 
 Edinburgh Castle, being formed of longitudinal iron bars, girt round with massive iron 
 hoops, and all welded imperfectly together. The extreme length of the unwieldy machine 
 is twenty-eight feet nine inches, and its external diameter at the breech two feet seven, but the 
 calibre is only eleven and a half inches. A smaller piece of like construction lies beside it. 
 Issuing from the eastern gate, immediately beyond the Palace palisade on the right 
 hand, stands the Yoom-dau or Royal Court-house for the city. This is a raised and open of 
 pavilion of plain substantia ltimber. In it the Myo-Woons or Governors of the city, of whom 
 there are two at Amarapoora, hold their daily courts. Here also the King's orders as affect- 
 ing the city are published, (being also, if necessary, announced throughout the town by beat 
 
 Fig. 27 
 
 * Very probably it was considered proper to boast of a Tooth of Gautama, because the Kings of 
 Ceylon had one. " Brarna King of Pegu, being told by astrologers he was to marry a daughter of the King 
 of Columbo, sent to demand her, and he had never a one ; but his chamberlain had one the King esteemed 
 as his own ; they both agreed to put her upon him as really the King's. And the chamberlain,' the more 
 to oblige the King of Pegu, seeking thereby to cast off the Portuguese yoke, feigned he had that Tooth 
 which was taken at Jafnapatam, and burned at Goa, and would give it in Dowry with the Bride. The 
 Ambassadors easily crediting what they desired, took the Bride and the Tooth, without acquainting the 
 Portuguese, and sent advice to Brama, who received the wife first, and then the rclick with the greatest 
 pomp that ever yet has been heard of." — History of the Discovery and Conquest of India by the Por- 
 tuguese. — 1695, vol. ii. p. 251. 
 
THE CITY OF AMARAPOORA. ' 137 
 
 of drum), and here the Princes take their seats on important occasions, sucli as the departure 
 of an army on the commencement of a war, when the troops are paraded before the Yoom. 
 
 Opposite the Yoom-dau is another pavilion of smaller size, called the Tara-yoom. 
 
 At the Yoom-dau the Myo-woons try criminal cases of importance, such as murders 
 and robberies. In cases of treason a Woondouk, or even one or more of the Woongyis, 
 would investigate the case at the Yoom-dau. Here also one of the Myo-woons, or some 
 other officer of the court, attends at night, and if any disturbance arises in the night, or if a 
 fire breaks out, it is the duty of all the officers of Government to repair to the Yoom. 
 
 In the Tara-yoom all civil suits, except those involving large sums in which foreigners 
 are concerned, are adjudicated, as well as petty assaults. There are two Judges, called 
 Tara-thoogyi, appointed for this purpose. One of these, the burly personage who had the 
 nominal superintendence of our accommodations at the Residency, has a district assigned 
 him " to eat," as the Burmese phrase it. The other Judge has not yet received a district, 
 but is paid half-yearly from the Royal Treasury. The amount of his salary was stated to 
 Major Phayre at about two hundred Rs. a month, but this is probably exaggerated. It 
 is certain, however, that the King's orders are most strict against bribery and receiving 
 presents, which were formerly the chief dependence of judicial officers, as well as against 
 the unauthorized confiscation of property, and other abuses and oppressions, which under 
 the last reign had prevailed to a frightful extent. He is endeavouring gradually to intro- 
 duce the system of payment by salaries. One of the Myo-woons of the city was last year 
 dismissed for receiving a present of rice. 
 
 All cases decided by the Myo-woons or Tara-thoogyis are liable to be reviewed by the 
 Woongyis. If, on investigation, the appeal should be pronounced frivolous, the appellant 
 is subject occasionally to be punished with stripes. If the appeal is successful, the Tara- 
 thoogyi said that he himself would be liable to fine, and perhaps to imprisonment. 
 
 Appeals from the provinces are made to the Hlwot-dau. This Council also decides on 
 cases of general oppression by local officers, on cases relating to revenue or disputed 
 district boundaries, and on applications for appointments. Appeals of civil suits from the 
 provinces are generally referred for report to the Tara-thoogyi, and his opinion is laid be- 
 fore the King, when a final decision is issued. Original civil suits arising in the city, and 
 involving large amounts of money, are also heard by the Hlwot-dau, and especially if 
 foreigners are concerned. 
 
 The Tara-thoogyi told Major Phayre that he attended his Yoom daily, worship-days 
 excepted, at noon, and sat till three. He then usually goes to the Palace, where the King 
 frequently questions him about the cases which he has decided. 
 
 To the west of the Palace is a court called the Western (Anouk-yoom), where are 
 investigated all cases occurring among the women of the Palace by a special officer called 
 the Anouk-woon. Other subjects of investigation within the Palace walls are inquired 
 into there by one of the Atwen-woons. 
 
 Behind the Tara-yoom'is the public gaol. Like the common buildings of the town, it 
 is only a cluster of mat-huts in a bamboo inclosure. The prisoners, however, are at night 
 made fast in the stocks, or rather to a long bamboo. They receive no public sustenance, 
 
 T 
 
138 THE CITY OF AMAIIAPOORA. 
 
 and those who have no friends or means must starve, or depend on the charity of the 
 neighbouring residents. Even those who. have friends bribe the gaolers to obtain access 
 for supplies of food. Deaths by starvation and cruelty are said to be frequent in this 
 place.* The present King has ordered the prisoners to be fed, and fancies that his orders 
 are obeyed, but they are not.f 
 
 There are no brick buildings within the city walls, except the Temples and the few in 
 the Palace that have been already mentioned. A large square Pagoda marks each angle 
 of the city, just within the walls. These are all similar in plan, but that at the N.W. 
 angle only is gilt. 
 
 The streets are very wide, and in dry weather are tolerably clean. They are always 
 free from the closeness and offensive smells of most Indian towns. There are, however, no 
 public arrangements or regulations for street-cleaning, and the dogs are the only scaven- 
 gers. There is no attempt at drainage, an improvement which might very easily be effected. 
 Tn wet weather, consequently, the streets are deep in mire, and some of the lower parts of 
 the city are absolutely swamped. 
 
 The city has not yet recovered from the civil broils of 1852, when the whole, ex- 
 cepting the Palace, was burnt to the ground. Large unoccupied spaces still exist within 
 the walls, and the population is nowhere dense. 
 
 The great majority of the houses are mere bamboo cottages slightly raised from the 
 ground on posts. Along all the chief streets, at the distance of a few feet from the house- 
 front on each side, runs a line of posts and neat lattice hurdles, or palings, which are kept 
 white-washed. The posts are crowned with plants in flower-pots, and between the house 
 and the paling there are often a few flowering shrubs. 
 
 This arrangement is called Yaja-mdt or King's Fence, and is supposed to be put up 
 wherever the King is likely to pass, in order to prevent the crowd from encroaching on 
 him disrespectfully. Indeed they are expected not even to stare at him, for in Burma 
 the right of a cat to look at a king is not well established. This lattice-fence gives a tidy 
 appearance to the streets, but concealing the shops and their contents (always one of the 
 most interesting subjects of curiosity in a foreign city) it destroys all picturesque variety, 
 and gives the town an aspect of monotony and depopulation. Even on days of public 
 spectacle, as when the Mission passed in procession to the court, excepting at the cross- 
 roads where denser masses gathered, the spectators were confined to the space behind 
 these lattice-palings. But for our commanding position on the backs of elephants we 
 should, from this cause, and from the intense silence that prevailed, scarcely have been 
 aware of the number of eyes directed on us. 
 
 * Judson's recollections of his captivity (Life, i. 309), give some idea of Burraan prison management. 
 But it is well to remember what British prisons have been, almost within living memory. 
 
 t In most countries it is one thing to issue an order, and another to see that it is obeyed. But this 
 is eminently the case in Burma. In Colonel Burney's time, a stoiy was current at Ava of a jester having 
 been seen very busily engaged in digging at the gate of the Palace. On the King asking him what he 
 was about, he replied that he was trying to find some of the hundreds of orders that were daily sent out 
 from the Palace and Hlwot-dau, and never were heard of again. — (MS. Journal.) 
 
THE CITY OF AMARAPOOKA, 1 39 
 
 At the gates of the city are open timber guardhouses. The gateway is merely as it 
 were a bastion cut through, and slightly ornamented in rude plaster mouldings. These 
 gateway bastions are likewise white-washed, forming a break in the monotonous brick 
 colour of the rest of the w.all. The gates are not arched over, but are surmounted by 
 pavilions such as one sees in pictures of Chinese towns. These pavilions are triple-roofed 
 over the central or main gates, and double over the others : smaller pavilions shade the 
 bastions. The passages of the most frequented gates are favourite stations for the stalls of 
 petty traders. Sandals of all kinds, wooden combs, and cheap lacquered-ware, are the 
 staple articles, with the addition of all sorts of small wares, such as pan-boxes, copper 
 spoons, scissars, little pictures, ear-tubes of coloured glass and metal, steatite pencils, strike- 
 lights, &c. Booths for similar goods are ranged against the corners of the Palace palisades, 
 and at the very gate of the Palace is the principal mart for the stationers who deal in the 
 para-beiks (or black books), and steatite pencils, which form the only ordinary writing 
 materials of the Burmese in their common transactions. 
 
 The houses of the Princes, the Ministers of State, and other dignitaries, generally 
 occupy the areas within the blocks into which the rectangular streets divide the town. 
 The best, such as that of the Crown-Prince, are extensive and elevated timber 
 structures, somewhat similar to the monasteries, but in plainer style ; with double and 
 triple roofs (allowed only to the royal family), boarded, or covered with small slate-like 
 tiles. Others are neatly made of bamboo-mat panels framed in teak, with carved teak 
 eaves and gable-ends, and roofs of thatch.* Here and there in the vacant spaces under the 
 ramparts are large barn-like buildings, distinguished by the Royal roof. These are the 
 King's granaries. f 
 
 * The character of house, and especially of roof, appropriate to each rank, appears to be matter of 
 regulation, or inviolable prescription. 
 
 t The divinity really most worshipped in Burma is Precedent. 
 
 It is curious to see how exactly the description of Pegu, given by Master Ca;sar Frederick in his 
 " Eighteen Years' Indian Observations" (Purchas Ids Pilgrimes, ii. 1714), as it existed in the year 1567, 
 corresponds with the present state of Amarapoora. " By the helpe of God we came safe to Pegu, which 
 are two Cities, the old and the new : in the old Citie are the Merchant strangers, and Merchants of the 
 Countrie, for there are the greatest doings and the greatest trade. This Citie is not very great, but it 
 hath very great suburbs. Their houses be made with canes and covered with leaves, or with straw ; but 
 the Merchants have all one House or Magason, which house they call Godon, which is made of brickes, 
 and there they put all their goods of any value, to save them from the often mischances that happen to 
 houses made of such stuffe. In the new Citie is the Palace of the King, and his abiding-place with all 
 his barons, and nobles, and other gentlemen ; and in the time that 1 was there they finished the build- 
 ing of the new Citie : it is a great Citie very plaine and flat, and fouresquare, walled round about, and 
 with ditches that compass the walls about with water, in which ditches are many Crocodiles." Even 
 this feature was preserved at a very late date. Colonel Burney mentions numerous alligators in the 
 ditch of Amarapoora in 1830. During our visit the ditches were dry, or nearly so. " It hath no Draw- 
 bridges, yet, it hath twenty gates, five for every square ; on the walls there are many places made for 
 Centinels to watch, made of wood, and covered, or gilt with gold. The streets thereof are the fairest 
 that I have seen, they are as a straight as a line from one gate to another, and standing at the one gate 
 you may discover to the other, and they are as broad as ten or twelve men may ride abreast in them : 
 and those streets that be thwart are faire and large ; these streets both on the one side and the other 
 are planted at the doores of the houses with nut-trees of India, which make a very commodious shadow : 
 
! 
 
 140 THE CITT OF AMARATOORA. 
 
 The approximate number of houses within the walls was found by Major Allan to be 
 5,334, giving a probable population of 26,670 ; and the whole capital, including the imme- 
 diate suburbs, was found to contain 17,659 houses, giving a population of about 90,000. 
 The Woondouk on one occasion was pleased to state the number of inhabitants at ten 
 millions, and this he said was no guess, but an actual enumeration made when the King 
 on coming to the throne presented every man, woman, and child with a piece of clothing. 
 
 But a much larger and denser population occupies the western suburb, which nearly 
 fills the projection of the peninsula from the city-walls to its termination at the Sagyin- 
 wa creek. An esplanade road of eighty or a hundred feet in width extends outside the 
 ditch, and then the suburb commences. The streets are laid out with something of the 
 same regularity as in the city, but with less width, and are lighted by a more healthful 
 amount of life and activity away from the immediate shadow of the royal lamp. The main 
 avenues are lined with the same arrangement of white lattice-screens as in the city. These 
 main streets, near the fort, constitute the quarter in which the foreign residents chiefly 
 dwell. Native subjects, it is said, are not allowed to build brick or stone houses without 
 the King's permission, nor is it agreeable to the habits and prejudices of the Burmese to do 
 so. But there is no prohibition of the kind affecting foreigners, and numerous brick houses 
 are consequently to be found in the foreign quarter, and there only, except in that occupied 
 by the Chinese. They are generally low two-storied buildings of very coarse construc- 
 tion, witli small low windows and no verandas. 
 
 There is but one English merchant now permanently resident at Amarapoora, Mr. 
 Thomas Spears. He has lived here with occasional interruptions for eighteen years, in 
 which time he has witnessed the deposition of three successive kings. He is very much 
 respected by the King, is sent for to the Palace nearly every day, and is evidently looked 
 on by His Majesty almost as his servant and subject. With a strong regard for the King 
 in return, Mr. Spears, however, does not forget his duties as a British subject. And it is 
 very much to his credit that, isolated as he has been from his countrymen for so many 
 
 the houses be made of wood, and covered with a kind of tiles in forme of cups, very necessary for their 
 use. The King's Palace is in the middle of the Citic, made in forme of a walled castle with ditches full 
 of water round about it ; the lodgings within are made of wood all over gilded, with fine pinnacles, and 
 very costly worke, covered with plates of gold. Truly it may be a King's house : within the gate there 
 is a faire large courte, from the one side to the other wherein there arc made places for the strongest 
 and stoutest elephants. He hath foure that bee white, a thing so rare, that a man shall hardly find 
 another King that hath any such, and if this king knowe any other that hath white elephants, he sendeth 
 for them as for a gift." 
 
 It is curious to sec above in the use of the word Godon how ancient our Anglo-Indian vocables are. 
 This word Godown (Oadong), and several others in daily use among the English all over India, which 
 are underivable from any continental language, are I believe pure Malay. Such are, Paddy (Pddi), 
 Compound (Kampong), Dammer (a kind of pitch — Ddmar), Bankshall (Bangsdl, a warehouse or factory, 
 I believe). There are others not confined to Anglo-Indians, such as Tea {Teh), Junk (Ajong), Rattan 
 (Rotan), Sago (Scigff), Mango (manggii), and Coral, a word which has puzzled etymologists, perhaps from 
 Malay (K&rang). My attention was attracted by the first two or three of these words when on duty at 
 Singapore, and the rest were picked out of a Malay dictionary. Most of them must have been first 
 adopted by the Portuguese at Malacca, and afterwards by our old factors in Sumatra, and brought by 
 them to continental India. 
 
THE CITY OF AMARAPOORA. 141 
 
 years, lie has always kept himself clear of local intrigues, and has honourably maintained 
 his character as an Englishman. One or two agents from the Rangoon houses may also 
 generally be found as temporary sojourners at the capital. 
 
 There were one or two French adventurers at the capital during our stay, but no old 
 resident of that nation, nor any one holding office under the Burmese Government. 
 
 A well-known inhabitant of the foreign quarter is Mr. Camaretta, a Portuguese of 
 Goa, who has been more than thirty years in the country, occupying various positions 
 under the Burmese Government. He was formerly in the immediate service of King 
 Tharawadi, the present King's father, and was made by him in 1839 Shabunder* of Ran- 
 goon. His reputation stands better with Europeans now than it did in those days. He 
 has known the King from childhood, holds a confidential post about his person, and is high 
 in his favour, so that he is an object of jealousy to most of the Burmese officials. He 
 appears to be honestly devoted to the King's interests, and sees that those will best be 
 served by the maintenance of friendship with the British Government. If he has not 
 sufficient boldness to tell His Majesty disagreeable truths, he at least does not endeavour 
 to mislead him or to poison his mind with falsehoods. He is now Akouk-woon, or Col- 
 lector of Customs at the capital, and seems to be respected by other foreigners as a man 
 who, without any advantages of education, has won and kept his position by fidelity to his 
 employers, and good sense in the circle of his duties. 
 
 Armenians have long frequented the Burman court and capital. At present there are 
 about a dozen families, chiefly merchants in a small way. Some of them have always been 
 noted as crafty mischief-makers and intriguers against England, and as depredators of her 
 power and motives. One of them at the beginning of the late European war offered to 
 go on a mission to Russia, but the King declined to enter into correspondence with a 
 power at war with the English. 
 
 It did not appear that there had been any one at Amarapoora during the war who 
 could be considered a Russian emissary, though the Armenians generally were violent 
 partisans of Russia. There are generally one or two Armenians in the direct service of 
 the Burmese Government. Makertich, who escorted us from Maloon to the capital, is one 
 of these. At present he holds the government of the Maloon district as well as the office 
 of Kald-woon, or Superintendent of Western Foreigners.! The Armenians used to be in 
 considerable numbers at Rangoon, and had a church there. At the capital they have no 
 church or priest. 
 
 Of Greeks, there used to be a few resident here, but now there are none ; nor are there 
 at present any Jews. 
 
 There are some fifteen or sixteen houses of Moguls, as they are called, engaged in 
 trade with Rangoon and Calcutta. These are Mahomedans of Western Asia, generally 
 originating from the cities of the Persian Gulf, and sometimes even from Bokhara, but 
 often arrived at Ava from an intermediate settlement at one or other of the Anglo-Indian 
 
 * Superintendent of the Port. The epithet is Persian, but appears to have been long naturalised in 
 Burma. 
 
 f The Colvoon of some of the old travellers. 
 
 ' r 
 
142 THE CITY OF AMARAPOORA. 
 
 Presidencies, against the Government of which they have always contributed their mite of 
 rancour and mischief. 
 
 The feeling both of the Armenians and Moguls in Ava appears to have been always 
 one of bitter jealousy and dislike to us. In our absence, they felt themselves the repi - e- 
 sentatives of Western knowledge and civilization, but by our presence they are cast into 
 the shade, and resent it. 
 
 The Padre Paulo Abbona, a Sardinian missionary priest, has his house and humble 
 church in another part of the suburb, near the river. He is a constant attendant at the 
 court, and has been frequently employed by the present King as a medium of intercourse 
 with us. His church is a monument of Mr. Camaretta's liberality. Before the walls had 
 risen to their full height, they were thrown down by the great earthquake of 1839 ; again 
 the completed building was destroyed by fire ; and each time Mr. Camaretta rebuilt it out 
 of his own pocket 
 
 There are four other Roman Catholic priests in the country, all, I believe, Piedmontese 
 or Italians. They have under their pastoral charge, besides the flock at the capital, a 
 few Christian villages. These all lie between Moutshobo and the river Kyendwen, prin- 
 cipally in the district of Tubbee-yen or Diba-yen, in the valley of the Moo river. The 
 only one on the Irawadi is, I believe, Ngabek, which stands at the angle between the 
 Great River and the upper mouth of the Kyendwen. The whole number of Christians 
 was stated by Abbona to be 2300 ; but this is probably an over-estimate. Their proge- 
 nitors are said to have been the descendants of Portuguese, French, and other captives, 
 brought up from Syriam by Alompra in 1756, and perhaps by one of his predecessors at 
 the earlier capture of that port in 1613. To those have been added occasional converts 
 from the Shans and Burmese; but these are few. Some also of the Christians at the 
 capital I was told were descended from Siamese Christian prisoners ; but it was very 
 difficult to get definite information about them, even from those who might have been 
 expected to know.* 
 
 The number of Christians at the capital is about 200. They are not distinguishable by 
 any external indication from the other Burmese. 
 
 Since we quitted the city Mr. Abbona has established a school, and I believe intends 
 to teach English. Both the King and the Crown-Prince have contributed or promised 
 assistance. 
 
 The Chinese, instinctively recognised as of nearer kindred in blood and manner, are not 
 by the Burmans classified with the Kalas or other foreigners, though that term includes 
 every race of India proper, of Western Asia, and of Europe. Their ward occupies a large 
 
 • 
 * The names of the villages as stated to me were Ngabek, Kyoung-oo, Moun-hla, Khyoung-yoo, 
 Khyanda-yuwa, Lipan-gyi, and Kyoum-dau. Khyanda-yuwa was said to be the largest Christian village. 
 Five of these names are the same as those given by Col. Burney in his notice of Father Giuseppe 
 D'Amato (J. A. S. B. i. 349). The whole population was stated to him at 960, and of these many had 
 ceased to profess Christianity, as the Father lamented to Burney. But the number of priests has 
 been greater of late years, and perhaps there has been a corresponding improvement in the numbers of 
 the flock. 
 
THE CITY OF AMAKAPOOEA. 143 
 
 portion of the main street of the suburb, where every shop and house exhibits the unmis- 
 takable countenance and tail. Thinking of these Eastern people in the mass, we are apt 
 to class the Burmese and other kindred races with the Chinamen ; but when one sees the 
 latter in the streets of Amarapoora, his individuality is just as recognisable as it would be 
 in Hyde Park. A large proportion of the dwellings in the quarter inhabited by the Chinese 
 is built of brick.* Their number probably amounts to nearly 2000 families, in the capital 
 and the neighbouring villages. They have a temple of their own, the nationality of which 
 in its bizarre character would be recognized by any English child. In a visit which I 
 paid to it with some other officers of the Mission, we were very courteously received by 
 some of the chief Chinese merchants, who were passing their evening leisure there. For 
 the temple serves not merely as a place of worship, but as a house of resort or club also 
 for its frequenters. Entering by a circular (not smt-circular) gateway, flanked by two 
 gaping watch-dogs of marvellous dentition in white Sagyin marble, and decked round with 
 dragonesque adornments and with panels inscribed with the well-known characters in gilt 
 relief, we found the building to consist of an outer, middle, and inner court. The outer 
 court was merely a vestibule. The middle one possessed indeed a cell with images, but it 
 seemed principally devoted to mundane purposes. On one side was what looked like a 
 regular club or tavern dining-room, furnished with numerous small separate tables. On 
 the other side was a small hall provided with chairs and benches, where the Chinamen 
 before mentioned were enjoying their tea and pipes. We were invited to go in and seat 
 ourselves, and were refreshed with small cups of weak but agreeable tea. The pipe, 
 which was also presented, was a curious article of brass, containing a tobacco-box, a water- 
 vessel, and, above this, a very small chimney as substitute for the bowl. Of tobacco in 
 fact it held a mere pinch, dexterously rolled between finger and thumb before insertion, 
 and serving only for one or tvvo whiff's, whilst a waiter stood by to keep it replenished and 
 relighted. After a little attempt at conversation through a Munnipori servant, who ren- 
 dered the Chinaman's Burmese into lame Hindustani, we were asked to view the inner 
 sanctum. This was, as usual, like an old curiosity-shop rather than a place of worship ; 
 full of all sorts of quaint, carved cabinets or shrines, fantastic lanterns and censers, curious 
 bronzes, life-size grotesque figures ranged in cupboards on the wall, teapoys, altars, furni- 
 ture of inconceivable purpose, stands of imitation antique weapons, such as halberts, pitch- 
 forks, and morning-stars, probably intended for use in their plays, &c. The principal 
 figure was of Sagyin marble. Differing from the Burmese and Indian Gautamas, it still 
 seemed to me to resemble the prints of Fo, or the Chinese version of the Buddha. But the 
 people evaded our question as to the person represented. A shelf of minor figures stood 
 below, and among them was a regular Burmese Gautama in the normal attitude. The 
 wood-carving about the pillars and brackets was thoroughly Chinese, showing much more 
 finish and executive expertness in the tours de force of its fantastic under-cutting than any 
 
 * Raffles notices that the Chinese invariably construct a house of brick and mortar when they 
 possess the means, and that the Chinese Kampongs or wards in the Javanese cities may always be thus 
 distinguished from those of the natives. {History of Java, i. 81.) 
 
144 THE CITY OF AMARAPOOKA. 
 
 Burmese work, but decidedly inferior to much of the latter in real artistic design and 
 effectiveness. 
 
 Altogether the building, though much inferior to one in the same style which I have 
 seen at Singapoor, is creditable to the little community of provincials in a foreign city. It 
 is said to have cost 150,000 tikals,* a sum which was raised among the Chinese residents, 
 by a voluntary tax upon their own imports. 
 
 The overland traffic with China is an interesting branch of the Burmese trade. Its 
 staple is cotton from Ava, exchanged for the silk of China, of which there is a very large 
 consumption in the looms of the capital ; silk-clothing being almost universal in Burma 
 among all but the poorest of both sexes. The cotton of Burma has, since 1854, been a 
 Royal monopoly. The King has constituted himelf the sole dealer in cotton as well as in 
 certain other articles. This is a new feature in Burmese administration. In former times, 
 kings and ministers at Ava were wont to speak somewhat contemptuously of trade and 
 merchants. But the loss of the revenue of Pegu has put the Government to novel shifts. 
 
 Formerly the Chinese merchants used often to make advances to the cultivators in 
 Burma, taking the produce of the cotton harvest in return. Now these advances are made 
 entirely by the King. The present rate at which he pays the cultivators is twenty tikals 
 per 100 viss,f and the rate at which he disposes of the cotton at the capital is from forty to 
 fifty tikals for the same quantity. Merchants wishing to purchase pay their money into 
 the Bya-deit, or office of the household ministers in the Palace, and receive an order for a 
 corresponding quantity of cotton. f 
 
 The cotton (which is cleaned from seed), is transported by boat up the Irawadi to 
 Bamo, which is the great depot for all the Chinese export and import trade; though 
 very little actual buying and selling takes place there, except in Chinese copperpots, 
 carpets, and warm jackets, which are sold to the neighbouring population, and taken all 
 over the Burman territories as far as the Kyen-dwen.§ Cotton is conveyed to Bamo on 
 boats of the flat-bottomed kind called Pein-go, carrying from ten thousand to twenty-five 
 thousand viss, and drawing about three-and-a-half feet water. They commence the traffic 
 about ths end of October and continue plying until May, seldom later. When the river is 
 at its very lowest ebb it is said that the largest boats have to discharge their cargoes at two 
 or perhaps three points on the way, in order to work over the shoals. The cotton is 
 
 * More than 18,000£. 
 
 t 1 viss = 100 tikals in weight, or 3.6516lbs. avoirdupois. The proper Burmese name of the weight 
 is Paiktha. Viss is the name of a weight in use on the Coromandel Coast, being the eighth part of a 
 Madras maund, or about 3lbs. 2oz. It appears to have been applied to the Burmese standard by 
 foreign traders from an early period. Tikal is no more Burmese than viss, but its origin is more 
 obscure. The true Burmese name is Kyat. Tikal is applied by foreigners also to the Siamese bat, a 
 coin nearly equal in value to a Kyat of silver. Perhaps it may be a corruption of the word Takd, which 
 is applied in different parts of India to different coins ; in some places to a pice, in some to a rupee. 
 Major Phayre, however, believes Tikal to be a corruption of Ta-Kyat, one Kyat. 
 
 + The Chinese merchants also pick up about 150,000 viss of cotton in the Shan states, to which the 
 monopoly does not extend. 
 
 § Capt. Hannay's Journal. 
 
THE CITY OF AMAItAPOOBA. 145 
 
 packed by the Chinese in bales adapted to mule carriage. These bales are rudely pressed 
 by putting them in a hole and treading in the cotton. 
 
 From Bamo, Captain Hannay tells us, the goods are carried on canoe-rafts up the 
 Taping or Bamo river, to the old town of that name. Between old Bamo and the 
 Chinese marts, the whole of the traffic is carried on mules, ponies, and bullocks. 
 
 An account of Bamo, as it was in 1836, is given by Captain Hannay in his journal of 
 " A Journey from Ava to the Amber Mines," the MS. of which is in the Foreign Office, 
 Calcutta, and an abstract of which is given in the J. A. S. B. vi. 245. He describes it as 
 the largest place that he had seen in Burma, after Rangoon and Ava, and more interesting 
 than either. On landing, he felt almost as if in a civilised land again, seeing himself sur- 
 rounded by a fair-complexioned people wearing jacket and trousers, after having been long- 
 accustomed to the putsos and harsh features of Burma. These were the Shans of the 
 Chinese Shan States, and the Chinese of Yunan; of the latter there were about five hundred 
 resident at Bamo, where they had a neat temple. The whole number of houses in the town 
 was about two thousand. All the Chinese houses are built of blue bricks, and the streets 
 paved with the same material. There was a remarkable appearance of comfort and pros- 
 perity about the people of Bamo, and Captain Hannay remarks that he saw more gold and 
 silver ornaments worn here than in any town in Burma. " The whole of these people," 
 he says, speaking of the traders of different races, "pay for everything they require in 
 silver ; and were it not for the restrictions in Burma on the exportation of silver, I think 
 an intelligent British merchant would find it very profitable to settle at Bamo ; as, besides 
 the easy intercourse with China, it is surrounded by numerous and industrious tribes, who 
 would, no doubt, soon acquire a taste for British manufactures, which are at present quite 
 unknown to them." 
 
 There were also a number of Chinese settled at Koung-toung, and other places below 
 Bamo. 
 
 I may remark that European remittances to the R. C. missionaries in Yunan, of whom 
 there are several, are now sent via Amarapoora. 
 
 The old Shan town of Bamo, alluded to above, is on the Taping river, two days' 
 journey from the Irawadi, at the foot of the Kakhyen hills. Pemberton notices that Captain 
 Hannay's description of the Taping demolished Klaproth's theory, that this river was, in fact, 
 the main feeder of the Irawadi and identical with the Sanpoo of Tibet. It is in reality one 
 hundred and fifty yards wide, with merely water enough to float a canoe. The Singphos 
 told Hannay that the Taping was an off-shoot of the Shweli, which enters the Irawadi 
 about ninety miles below. This Pemberton disbelieves ; but it is a remarkable fact that 
 these rivers are represented as the Singphos described in the map which Dalrymple fur- 
 nished for Col. Symes's book, published in 1800.* 
 
 * It is curious that I have met with three independent assertions or suggestions of the existence of 
 a boat-communication from the Irawadi to the eastward, for which there still seems to be no founda- 
 tion. First, Ferdinand Pinto tolls a strange story of his going up the river seven days from Ava, and 
 then through a channel called Guarnpanoo (qu. KhyouDg Bam6 1) which led him into a great river 
 three leagues broad, called Angegumaa. This he descended, and eventually turned up somehow at 
 
 D 
 
146 THE CITY OF AMARAPOORA. 
 
 Besides cotton, a few other articles are exported from Burma, but the aggregate value 
 of the whole of them is insignificant in comparison. Some of these minor items of trade 
 are the white areca-nut from Penang and Acheen; esculent birds'-nests and fish-maws 
 from Tenasserim and the Straits ; the wings of a species of king-fisher imported from India 
 through Aracan ; soft deers' horns ; a few hundred pieces of American jean, and a similar 
 quantity of British long-cloth. 
 
 In the district of Mogoung in Upper Burma,* a green, translucent, and very hard stone 
 (called by Crawfurd and Pemberton "noble serpentine"), is dug by the Shans and 
 Kakhyens,f and largely purchased by the Chinese for exportation to their own country, 
 where it fetches an extravagant price (probably on account of some supposed talismanic or 
 detective virtues), and is manufactured into cups, bracelets, &c.J The value of this trade 
 is represented by respectable Chinese at Amarapoora to reach from six to ten lakhs of 
 tikals per annum. § 
 
 Martaban ! Secondly, Dalrymple {Oriental Repertory, i. 114) says he was informed by a gentleman who 
 had been some time resident in the country, " That, between the Ava river and another one which 
 traverses part of China, there is a narrow tract of low land ; this being overflowed in the floods, much 
 mud is left behind by the stream, over which the boats with goods are transported from one river to 
 the other. This transportation from leaving one till launching into the other river takes about a week." 
 Thirdly, it appears from an allusion by Colonel Burney (J. A. S. B. vi. 139), that Gutzlaff states on 
 Chinese authority that, in their invasion of Burma in 1769, the Chinese army brought boats by some 
 navigable river that falls into the Irawadi. Burney, however, quotes the Burmese history, to the 
 effect that the Chinese had brought numerous carpenters with them, to construct boats on the Irawadi. 
 
 It is remarkable that such an anastomosis between two parallel rivers, as two of these passages 
 indicate, is represented in some of our maps as existing between the Siam river and the great river of 
 Cambodia. 
 
 * In the valley of the Ooroo, a tributary of the Ningthe or Kyendwen, some fifty or sixty miles west 
 of Mogoung. The stone is found in the form of boulders imbedded in yellow clay. The larger blocks 
 are carried off on bamboo frames, borne by four or five men. (Griffith's Posthumous Papers, p. 132, and 
 Pemberton's Report, p. 123.) 
 
 t The Kakhyens, or Kakoos as they call themselves, are a wild section of the great race of Singphos, 
 and inhabit hilly tracts on both banks of the Irawadi from Bam6 upwards. They are said to be preda- 
 tory, vindictive, and indolent. They are, however, good blacksmiths. They are remarkably athletic 
 hardy men, and it is not uncommon to see them six feet high. Captain Hannay describes those whom 
 he first saw at Koung-toung, a little below Bam6, as " perfect savages in their appearance. They had 
 not at all the Tartar cast of features, but on the contrary had long faces and straight noses, with a very 
 disagreeable expression about their eyes, which was rendered still more so by their lanky black hair 
 being brought over the forehead, so as entirely to cover it, and then cut straight across in a line with 
 the eyebrows." (MS. Journal ; see also an interesting sketch of the Singphos or Kakhyens, published 
 by Col. Hannay in a pamphlet, Calcutta, 1847.) The Rev. Mr. Kincaid, of the American Mission in 
 Burma, has diffused a theory that a great part of the population of the Upper Irawadi, I believe these 
 very Kakhyens, belong to the Karen race. I believe the theory to have no substantial basis. The lan- 
 guage of the Kakhyens, apcording to the tables of Mr. Brown at Suddiya, has only about 17 per cent of 
 its words similar to the Karen. (Hannay, U.S.) 
 
 I This is the Yu of the Chinese, commonly rendered Jade ; inaccurately, James Prinsep says ; prase 
 rather. J. A. S. B. vi. 265). 
 
 § This is probably exaggerated, but the mineral is said to sell in China for twice its weight in silver. 
 Dr. Bayfield was informed that the duty on the stone sometimes reached 40,000 rupees a-year. Cap- 
 tain Hannay, however, was told at Mogoung that, including this duty, the revenue of the town and 
 
THE CITY OF AMARArOORA." 147 
 
 Amber, to a considerable amount, from a more northerly part of the same region,* is 
 taken to China also. Rubies are not exported to any large extent, and those only stones 
 of inferior value. But a pink spar found in the Ruby district is a more important item of 
 export. It is believed to be used for one of the classes of distinctive mandarin cap-knobs. 
 
 The export as well as the import trade is entirely conveyed by the caravans from 
 Yunan. These begin to arrive at Bamo in October, and continue to come in until May, 
 when the approaching wet weather suspends the traffic. 
 
 The silk, which is the staple of the import trade, is said to come from a city called by 
 my informant Tsa-chad-Sing, eighty-three days' journey from Bamo and fifty days beyond 
 the city of Yunan. The intervals were roughly given as follows by one of the Chinese 
 merchants. From Bamo to Momienf (the first Chinese city ; country hilly and inhabited 
 by Kakhyens and Shans) .......... 9 days. 
 
 Momien to Talee-foo (mountainous ; inhabited by Chinese) . . . . 12 „ 
 
 Talee-foo to Yunan 12 „ 
 
 Yunan to Tsa-choe-Sing 50J „ 
 
 83 days. 
 Besides silk, a miscellany of other articles is imported from Yunan and the intermediate 
 
 neighbouring villages did not exceed 30,000 rupees. The persons who come to purchase are Chinese 
 Mussulmans. In 1836 they paid 1J to 2.} tikals each for license to go to the mines, and l£ tikals per 
 month during their stay there. A varying toll was also levied on the ponies or boats carrying away the 
 stone, and on arrival at Mogoung, an ad valorem duty of 10 per cent was levied ; lastly, a quarter tikal 
 was taken from each individual at a village below Mogoung, where the Chinese returned their licenses. 
 The diggers also paid a quarter tikal per month for permission to dig. 
 
 * From the valley of Hookoong (which takes its Burmese name of Payendwen from the amber 
 mines), near the sources of the Kyendwen, in, lat. 26° 20', and close to the Assam border. It is found 
 with small masses of lignite (which form the clue in seeking for it), in a dark carbonaceous earth covered 
 with red clay. It is extracted from square pits, reaching sometimes to a depth of forty feet, and so 
 narrow that the workmen ascend and descend by placing their feet in holes made in two sides of the 
 pit, no sheeting being used. In 1837 only about a dozen people found employment at these mines. 
 (Griffith's Posthumous Papers, p. 128.) 
 
 t The Chinese frontier post is five or six days' journey (probably about fifty miles) from Bamo. 
 Momien, or Moung-myen, is the first Chinese city that is reached. Moung, or Muang, is the Shan word 
 for a city, or fortified place, corresponding to the Burmese Myo. The present Chinese name of Momien 
 is Theng-ye-chow. But it would appear from the Chinese Geography, translated by Father Martin 
 Martini, that it was formerly known to the Chinese as the Fort of Mien ; Mien being also the Chinese 
 name of Burma. The same author says that the Fort of Mien was anciently comprised in the territories 
 of the " Sinan," (his description of whom identifies them with the Burmese), but that it was taken from 
 them by the Yuena dynasty. The Yuen dynasty is that of Kublai Khan and the Mongolians. Hence 
 Momien was probably lost to the Burmese in the war spoken of by Marco Polo, in which Pagdn was 
 taken (ante, p. 31 ; Martini, in Thevenot's Divers Voyages curieux, ii. 209 ; See also Pemberton's Report, 
 p. 137). 
 
 Pemberton in his Report makes the Chinese frontier only two days' journey from Bamo ; but 
 Hannay, and two separate itineraries given by Burney, make it six days. The mistake may have arisen 
 from a confusion between old and new Bam6, to which Pemberton himself alludes. 
 
 % Ta-lee-foo and Yunan-foo are in our maps of China. I cannot identify Tsa-choe-Sing, which is 
 the name as it was written from the Chinese pronunciation. Talifoo is not in the direct road from Bam6 
 to Yunan. 
 
148 TIIE CITY OF AMARAPOORA. 
 
 towns. The principal items are gold-leaf, some Syci silver, copper, Ilurtdl (sulphuret of 
 arsenic), quicksilver, zinc, cast-iron pots and pans of excellent manufacture, vermilion and 
 paper of different colours ; besides copper tinsel, hams, honey (most excellent), wax, macaroni, 
 spirits (from rice) for the consumption of the Chinese residents, tea, velvet, felt rugs, 
 walnuts, chestnuts, opium (so I was assured),* pears and preserved fruits, artificial flowers, 
 straw hats, and a variety of other unimportant articles. A small quantity of Russian 
 broadcloth also, strange to say, finds its way to Amarapoora through China, f 
 
 Besides the trade by Bamo, between January and April, caravans of traders with 
 laden horses and mules from China also arrive by a more southern route at Made, a 
 village about five miles above Amarapoora. These caravans are said to be owned prin- 
 cipally by Chinese Mahomedans, and to come from the cities of Yong-chan, Tali, and 
 Theng-ye-chow or Momien. Their road lies through the Shan states by the town of 
 Thein-ni, or even more circuitously by Kiang Tung and Mone. By this route little silk 
 is brought ; the investments are small, consisting of copper, arsenic, and the other minor 
 articles mentioned above. Cotton only is taken on the return journey.^ 
 
 A good deal of tin is brought by the Chinese caravans, but whence I could not 
 ascertain; probably from the northern Shan states. It is sold in half cylinders, about an 
 inch and a half in diameter, which appear to have been run in bamboos. Some sulphur 
 also, in large hemispherical cakes, is seen in the Chinese shops. 
 
 The whole amount of cotton exported to China last year was estimated at four millions 
 of viss, the value of which at fifty tikals per hundred, the present monopoly price, would 
 be two millions of tikals, — say 225,000?. 
 
 The importation of silk was over 40,000 bundles, each bundle weighing on an average 
 166 tikals and worth 30 rupees, giving a total value of 120,000?. for the silk imported. 
 
 This difference between the values of the cotton and silk, thus stated, leaves a balance 
 of about 105,000?. against the Chinese, as the value of their other imports, including gold 
 and silver. The amount of gold in leaf imported last year was 200 viss, equal pro- 
 bably to 38,000?. in value. The amount of silver I have not been able to learn, but 
 supposing it to have been one-fourth that of the gold, and the minor articles of export 
 from Burma to amount to 10,000?. (excluding the trade in amber and serpentine), we shall 
 have 67,500?. as the probable value of the miscellaneous imports from China. Mr. Spears 
 states that he has known the quantity of gold-leaf imported to amount to 500 viss, equal 
 probably to a value of 95,000?. It is not used for gilding merely, but is also extensively 
 melted down for goldsmiths' work. 
 
 Turning to Mr. Crawfurd's narrative, I find that he estimated (in 1827) the value of 
 
 * Burney also mentions the opium. It sold in his time at one-fourth the price of Bengal opium, and 
 was of very inferior quality. It was grown clandestinely in the neighbourhood of Taleefoo. . 
 
 t Burney saw, among the goods of the Chinese traders noticed in the next paragraph, broad-cloth 
 bearing the E. I. Company's stamp, which had evidently been imported at Canton. (MS. Journal.) 
 
 \ There is an account of this last trade by Colonel Burney in the Gleanings of Science, iii. 182. In 
 1831, 5000 of these traders arrived at Mad6, their investments not averaging more than twenty tikals 
 each in value. 
 
THE CITY OF AMABAPOOBA. 149 
 
 the silk imported at 81,000/!., or about two-thirds of that stated to me as the import of last 
 year. The value of the cotton export as estimated by his authorities was nearly the same 
 as I have given above, viz. 228,000Z, The total amount of export and import trade was 
 variously stated to him as from 400,000^. up to 700,000£ My estimate of this, it will be 
 seen, is somewhat more than the former sum ; viz. 
 
 Exports— Cotton • . £225,000 
 
 Sundries 10,000 
 
 £235,000 
 
 Imports— Silk . £120,000 
 
 Sundries • 67,500 
 
 £187,500 
 
 Total imports and exports, 422,500Z., and the gold and silver representing the difference 
 between import and export amounts to 47,500£. 
 
 It is probable that the cultivation and export of cotton will fall off, if the King's 
 monopoly be maintained. 
 
 The Burmese Custom-house at Bamo charges a duty of one-and-a-half tikals per 100 
 viss on the cotton passing out, and two-and-a-half tikals more is taken by the Chinese at 
 the frontier. Other articles of export pay to the Burmese Government customs varying 
 from six to ten per cent. A duty of ten per cent, lately reduced to nine, is levied also by 
 the Burmese on all imports. This can be paid either at Bamo or on arrival at the 
 capital. 
 
 The Chinese do not appear to allow the exportation of any of the metals in an 
 unmanufactured state. Copper is always brought in the form of pots and pans : gold in 
 leaf; zinc in small stamped plates or saucers. The silver imported is probably smuggled. 
 
 Among the shopkeepers you find for sale some tea of fair ordinary appearance, loosely 
 pressed into circular cakes, nine or ten inches in diameter. But the greater part of the 
 tea sold in Ava, and thence carried to the lower provinces, is in the form of hard balls, 
 rather larger than cricket-balls, and is the produce of the Shan states and of the hills 
 inhabited by the people called Paloungs, east and north of the Ruby-mines. It sells 
 commonly at about three-fourths of a rupee per viss — say sixpence a pound. It is com- 
 mended by the Rev. H. Malcom in his travels, but it seemed to me coarse and flavourless. 
 The hlapit, or tea used by the Burmans so extensively in a pickled state, is also brought 
 from the Paloung country.* It is put up in baskets, packed moist, and is often floated 
 down the Irawadi and Myit-nge to Amarapoora on bamboo rafts, so as to remain partially 
 submerged. 
 
 * The Paloungs are a tribe kindred to the Shans, inhabiting, as above noticed, the hills on the 
 border of Burma and China. Col. Hannay describes them as having the character of being an indus- 
 trious and hospitable race, good dyers, carpenters, and blacksmiths. They are short, athletic men, with 
 fair skins ; many of them have rather large grey eyes, and all have a small flat nose, much distended 
 towards the nostrils. They wear a dark jacket and short breeches, in the Shan style. 
 
150 THE CITY OF AMARAPOORA. 
 
 I believe, indeed, that none of the tea sold in Amarapoora is the produce of China. 
 And it is a remarkable fact, that large quantities of tea are imported into the province of 
 Yunan from the Shan states between the Irawadi and the Cambodia River. The Bur- 
 mese Governor and his followers, with whom Dr. Bayfield travelled up the Irawadi in 
 1837, treated as preposterous the Doctor's assertion that tea grew in China. They looked 
 on China as purely a tea-importing country. 
 
 The better class of Chinamen do not generally intend remaining for life in Burma when 
 they come here ; but as all classes take wives from the families of Burmese, or of their 
 countrymen settled in Burma, many of them do become residents for life. The wealthier 
 merchants generally send their sons to China for education, but the daughters rarely leave 
 the country. 
 
 The chief merchants among them are only agents for houses in China. Instead of a 
 commission on what they sell, they have generally a share in the profits, and they are in 
 the habit of visiting China every six or seven years for the purpose of adjusting accounts. 
 They never, therefore, purchase China goods at Bamo or Ava, but receive consignments 
 for sale,* and invest the proceeds in the purchase of cotton, and whatever else their prin- 
 cipals may want. 
 
 There are some five or six of these agency-houses at Amarapoora, which do business to 
 the extent of 200,000 tikals a-year and upwards each, and probably five-and-twenty more 
 that turn over 20,000 or 30,000 tikals a-year. The shopkeepers are generally poor, 
 buying from their countrymen in the higher walks of trade on two or three months' credit, 
 and paying in silver. When they have gathered a little money they frequently send small 
 investments of cotton on their own account to China, and get other goods in return. 
 
 The merchants, properly so called, are regarded as men of their word, but the petty 
 shopkeepers will cheat you if they can. Although all drink spirits, and opium-smoking is 
 common among them, Mr. Spears tells me he has never seen a Chinaman intoxicated. 
 
 West of the Chinese, who have led me into so long a digression from our survey of the 
 city, and in the same suburb, is the ward in which the native Mahomedan community does 
 chiefly congregate, though many of its members are also diffused among the miscellaneous 
 population. 
 
 These people, called in the Burmese language Pathee, are numerous in Amarapoora; 
 so much so that a respectable Indian Mussulman, not deficient in sense, saw nothing absurd 
 in telling me that there were 20,000 families of them in the city. Probably 8000 or 9000 
 souls would be a better guess at their numbers. 
 
 There are some few Burmese converts to Mahomedanism, generally from the influence 
 of a Moslem husband or wife ; converts not being molested in any way by the Govern- 
 ment. But the majority of the professors of this faith are supposed to be of Western descent. 
 Some families believe themselves to have been settled in Burma for five or six hundred 
 
 * Mr. Crawford represents the Chinese trade as carried on by one annual caravan from China, and 
 at one annual fair at Bam6, like the fair at Kiakhta on the Russian frontier of China. This was cer- 
 tainly a misapprehension. The road between the Yunan marts and Bam6 is constantly traversed by 
 goers and comers, except during the rainy season, when travelling with wares is impracticable. 
 
THE CITY OF AMARATOOBA. 151 
 
 years ;* others are descended from Mussulmans of India or Western Asia, whom chance or 
 trade has brought hither as voluntary emigrants in later years ; others from Mahomedans 
 of Aracan, of Munnipoor, and perhaps of Kachar, forcibly deported by the Burmans during 
 their inroads into those countries. But all having intermarried with the natives they are 
 undistinguishable at sight from other Burmans, except those whose family migration is of 
 late date, and who possess, it struck me, a very peculiar and distinct physiognomy. 
 
 They wear the Burman dress, speak the Burman language, and are Burmese in nearly 
 all their habits. Their women of all ranks go unveiled, and clothe as scantily as the rest 
 of their countrywomen. For the sanctity of the purda, elsewhere so unfailing an accom- 
 paniment of Islam, is here entirely unknown. 
 
 Their marriages are generally regularly contracted, according to the Mahomedan form 
 of nikali. But the engagement, instead of being made after the fashion of India and all 
 Western Asia, through parents or go-betweens, is arranged in the good old English 
 manner between the parties principally concerned, and the lady's parents are not consulted 
 till the important question has been put and answered satisfactorily. This system of 
 things seemed to the Hindustani Mahomedans of our escort grossly indecorous and 
 heretical. 
 
 Most of the people can repeat their prayers in Arabic ; without understanding them } 
 indeed: but this would apply as truly to nine-tenths of the Mahomedans of India. They 
 are pretty regular in attending the Friday prayers in the mosques, but the daily namaz is 
 little regarded. There is said to be one Moulvee in the city who occasionally preaches, 
 or expounds in the vernacular. 
 
 The Burmese practice of tattooing the thighs and loins f is unusual among the Ma- 
 homedans, but some of them do give into this also. Most commonly too they pluck out 
 the hairs of the beard, as the Burmans do, until they become old. 
 
 As might be expected they are very ignorant sons of the Faith, and in the indiscrimi- 
 nating character of their diet are said to be no better than their neighbours; so that our 
 strict Mussulmans from India were not willing to partake of their hospitalities. 
 
 The Moguls and others, who at the present day settle in the country, intermarrying 
 with these people, speedily sink into the same practical heterodoxies. But nothing in the 
 life and conversation of their Burmese co-religionists seemed so offensive to the Ma- 
 homedans of our escort as the free dress and habits of the women, who are said to be even 
 admitted to prayer in the same mosques with the men. These habits were such a gross 
 
 * Intercourse with the Mussulman countries of Western Asia appears to have been frequent in old 
 times. Fitch (1586) mentions ships from "Mecca" (whether Mocha or Judda) as numerous at Dalla, 
 Syriam, and Martaban, in his time, 
 
 t Every male Burman is tattooed in his boyhood from the middle to the knees ; in fact, he has a 
 pair of breeches tattooed on him. The pattern is a fanciful medley of animals and arabesques, but it is 
 scarcely distinguishable save as a general tint, excepting on a rather fair skin. 
 
 It is a curious fact, that the natives of the Samoan or Navigators' Islands have exactly the same 
 fashion. " None of them were tattooed about the face, but I observed they sometimes were so on the 
 belly, hips, and thighs, giving them the appearance of being clad in tight knee-breeches." (Erskine's 
 Cruise in the Pacific, 1853, p. 36.) 
 
152 THE CITY OF AMABAK)ORA. 
 
 violation of all Moslem propriety, that no man, they considered, was fit to lead the devo- 
 tions of a* congregation of believers who allowed such laxities in his family. 
 
 Most of the Mahomedans of Amarapoora, so far as they know anything about the 
 matter, are Soonnis ; but there are some Sheeas, and these have an Imambara for the 
 deposit of the Tazeeas, or gay shrines, carried about by that sect on their great festival of 
 the Mohurrum. 
 
 Every indigenous Mussulman has two names. Like the Irishman's dog, though his true 
 name is Turk he is always called Toby. As a son of Islam he is probably Abdul Kureem ; 
 but as a native of Burma, and for all practical purposes, he is Moung-yo or Shwepo. 
 
 In passing along the streets occupied by these people we could not have recognized 
 anything to distinguish them from the other Burmans, had it not been for the little naked 
 urchins who, seeing us to be foreigners, and probably accustomed to regard most foreigners 
 as brethren in the faith, used to run out after us merrily shouting " Salam Alikiim ! '' 
 
 Mahomedans are found sparsely in the rural districts as well as in the capital, and have 
 occasionally their humble mosque, where five or six families are found together. 
 
 The number of their mosques in the capital has been stated to me variously from forty 
 up to one hundred and twenty. I believe the former to be near the truth. 
 
 Most of these mosques must be very insignificant structures, but as they often closely 
 resemble one class of flat-roofed Burmese idol-houses, they may easily be passed without 
 notice. The largest mosque is a brick building of considerable size in the main street of 
 the western suburb. With its detached minar it forms a very curious and tasteful adapta- 
 tion of Burmese architecture to a foreign worship, showing a good deal of variation from 
 the usual details in bolder and more relieved scroll-work, &c, but all very successfully 
 executed in plaster. Internally the building is a square hall, the roof being supported by 
 numerous timber pillars. The usual niches at the Kibla end of the building are adorned 
 with mirror and gilding, in something of the Burmese style. The top of the minar is a 
 beautiful canopy of carved teak, shaped like an imperial crown. Beside it stands a high 
 mast, intended probably for illumination, but bearing a considerable resemblance to the 
 sacred flagstaves of the Buddhists, and evidently the result of a hankering after pagan 
 adornments. 
 
 Not far from the mosque which we have described, is one of the most singular edifices 
 which even Indo-Chinese art ever designed. Seen from a distance it perplexed us 
 much. In some points of view it appeared as a Pagoda ; in others as one of the gigantic 
 Lions or Griffins, pairs of which form the ordinary propylcea to the Burmese temples on 
 the Irawadi. Coming nearer we found it to be both one and the other. The lower part 
 was a temple or idol-shrine, encased as it were in the bowels of the gigantic monster, whose 
 elevated jaws and scaly crest formed a spire over it. This temple is called Naga-yon-Phya, 
 and is said to symbolize an event in the life of Gautama, in which he was protected by such 
 a creature in the Mee-gada-woon Forest, when assailed by enemies, for seven days and 
 nights.* 
 
 * Major Phayre. Or may it not refer to the following legend ?— " When Gautama retired to the shade 
 of the Midella tree, at the time he received the supreme Budhaship, there was a storm of wind and 
 
TIIIC CITY OF AMAKArOORA. 163 
 
 The other temples of the city and western suburb have nothing very remarkable about 
 them. One of the handsomest bears the name of " Chekya (Sakya) Muni." It is a gilt 
 timber edifice in the house-of-cards style of architecture, covering a'Jarge brass-Gautama. 
 It stood on the verge of the lake, just opposite to our Residency, frorti the front of which 
 the golden fret of its pinnacles and gables, and the sheen of its zinc roof, had a glorious ap- 
 pearance against the morning sun. It is said to be the usual rendezvous d£ the Brahmins 
 and other astrologers, who deal in horoscopes under its colonnades. \ 
 
 Over this, near the highest part of the extra-mural city, rose the great white Patd-dau- 
 gyi (" Great royal Pagoda"), one of the usual dead bell-shaped masses, intrinsically re- 
 markable for nothing except size, but which in the exterior prospects of the city^where 
 distance lent its magic, stood up with great effect as the centre and cyii'osur.e.fif,tbeeapital, 
 the St. Paul's or St Peter's of Amarapoora. \ 
 
 With the exceptions which have been specified before, the houses of the suburb like 
 those of the city are mere bamboo huts, slightly elevated from the ground. Near the river 
 and its creeks, where the ground is liable to inundation, they stand high on stilts, and jut 
 into the water like the houses of the Malay islanders. 
 
 When I speak of bamboo huts, I mean to say that posts and walls, wall-plates and 
 rafters, floor and thatch, and the withes that bind them, are all of bamboo. In fact it 
 might almost be said, that among the Indo-Chinese nations the staff of life is a Bamboo. 
 Scaffolding and ladders, landing-jetties, fishing-apparatus, irrigation-wheels and scoops, 
 oars, masts and yards, spears and arrows, hats and helmets, bow, bowstring and quiver, 
 oil-cans, water-stoups, and cooking-pots, pipe-sticks, conduits, clothes-boxes, pan-boxes, 
 dinner-trays, pickles, preserves, and melodious musical instruments; torches, footballs, 
 cordage, bellows, mats, paper ; these are but a few of the articles that are made from the 
 bamboo. 
 
 Artizans and traders in the same article cluster together in groups and give their names 
 to wards, but are not so strictly confined to one locality as in common Indian towns. You 
 find perhaps a dozen ironmongers together and a dozen dealers in gongs and other articles 
 of bellmetal and copper, but you will find similar groups of the same trades in other parts 
 of the town. The dealers in silks however, in the gay Putsos and Tameins, which form the 
 most important article of local production, seem concentrated in one bazar at the most 
 populous centre of the western suburbs, near to the Pat6-dau-gyi. 
 
 The weaving of these silks, of which the raw material is imported from China as we 
 have seen, gives employment to a large body of the population in the suburbs and villages 
 round the capital, especially to the Munnipoorians, or Kathi as they are called by the 
 Burmese. 
 
 These people, the descendants of unfortunates who were carried off in droves from their 
 country by the Burmans in the time of King Mentaragyi and his predecessors, form a very 
 
 rain ; but a Snake-god, Muchalinda, came and entwined himself round the body of the Sage, extending 
 his large hood over his head, and saying, ' Let not Bhagawa be affected by cold, or heat, or flies, or gnats, 
 or wind, or sunbeams, or insects.' Gautama accepted his protection until the storm had passed away." 
 Hardy's Eastern Monuchism, p. 123.) 
 
 X 
 
154 THE CITY OF AMAltAroOltA. 
 
 great proportion, some say a majority, of the metropolitan population, and they are largely 
 diffused in nearly all the districts of central Burma. In the country, having a good 
 character as cultivators, they are said to be welcomed by the local governors, and appear 
 to be comparatively free from oppressive exactions. But near the capital they in a manner 
 occupy the place of Israel in Egypt, and bear the burden of all the demands for forced and 
 gratuitous labour in a far greater proportion than the Burmans. As one of their country- 
 men expressed it to me, if a Burman has five sons one of them is taken for the King's 
 service ; if a Kathe has five sons they are all taken.* Whatever work is in hand for the 
 King or for any of the chief men near the capital, these people supply the labouring hands ; 
 if boats have to be manned they furnish the rowers ; and whilst engaged on such tasks any 
 remuneration that they may receive is very scanty and uncertain. They are greatly 
 valued as subjects, being both more industrious and more expert in handicrafts than the 
 Burmese. In such circumstances the women contribute to the household maintenance by 
 their silk-weaving ; those who are better off working on their own account and disposing of 
 their work to the mercers in the bazar; the poorer working on advances from the goungs, 
 ' or headmen of the wards, to whom they remain always in debt. Many Burmese families 
 also are employed at the silk-looms, but among the Munnipooris the work seems to be 
 almost universal. 
 
 The two articles produced are, as mentioned above, the putso, or kilt worn by the 
 men, and the tamein or woman's petticoat. The putso piece is usually from nine to ten 
 yards long and three-quarters wide.f When made up for use the length of web is cut in 
 halves, which are stitched together so as to give double width. It is girt round the waist 
 without any fastening. The spare length is then generally drawn through the fork like 
 the Indian dhotee, and tucked in front of the waist, the end hanging down in large folds. 
 The vulgar delight to gird this spare end tight, and pack the folds within it so that it 
 bulges out in front, " as big as a child's head," as some old travellers describe it. Some- 
 times, however, the putso is worn as a simple petticoat, like the sdrung of the Malays, the 
 ample spare drapery being flung over the shoulder. In this way it exactly represents the 
 belted plaid, or great kilt of the Highlanders in its ancient form. The price of these pieces 
 varies both with the weight of the texture and the quality of the pattern, from eight rupees 
 up to a hundred or more. Common stripes are cheapest, then checks and tartans, of 
 which they have an infinite variety, large and small, some being of considerable beauty 
 and delicacy. But the dearest patterns, and the most valued by the Burmese, are those 
 called loongija, which consist of an irregular succession of serpentine or zig-zag stripes of 
 bright colours, red, yellow, and green being the most frequent. As, in the loom, each of 
 these stripes is woven in separately and successively with a distinct shuttle or bobbin, the 
 
 * " Just what the Karens say of themselves in the British provinces," writes Major Phayre. But it 
 is to be hoped that the Karens will not continue to say so. 
 
 t The length of the putso was the subject of old sumptuary laws, which the King commonly called 
 Noung-dau-gyi (" Royal Elder Brother "), Tharawadi's predecessor, used sometimes to amuse himself by 
 enforcing. Others of these laws regulated the length of umbrella handles, and the metal of which the 
 spittoons of different ranks should consist. (Burney's MS. Journal.) 
 
THE CITY OF AMARAPOORA. 
 
 155 
 
 amount of labour expended depends largely on the number of these wefts or stripes, loons 
 as they are called, and the price rises with this number. Thus, whilst a putso of twenty- 
 five loons may cost fifteen or sixteen tikals, one of fifty loons will cost thirty-six tikals, and 
 above that number the price is roughly estimated at a tikal per loon. 
 
 The loom is an efficient one, but has nothing I think peculiar in it They brush the 
 warp before weaving, with the fibrous husk of the fruit of the pandanus, or screw-pine. 
 
 The tamein is somewhat narrower than the putso, and is only about three yards in 
 length. Tameins are generally woven with serpentine, Vandyke, and cable stripes, similar 
 to those of the finer putsos, but narrower and more delicate. Some of them are really 
 gorgeous in the brilliance of their colouring and contrasts, but the colours are said not to 
 
 be fast. The price, as 
 
 w^^tfry/^Ei vf ^ J v>'> r '• w ' tu ^ ie p utsos > ae ~ 
 
 % 'H ?$k SB S : :>?<<V ■ pends a good deal on 
 
 Hi 
 
 6a , .i fcrW 
 
 the number of loons. 
 A good eighty-loon 
 tamein costs from twelve 
 Fig. 28. to sixteen tikals, and 
 
 with afew silverthreads 
 worked in the price rises to one-half more. The tamein forms only a part of the scanty 
 clothing of a Burmese belle, viz. that part of her dress which extends from the waist to 
 below the knee. A trailing skirt is always attached, but it is woven by another artizan, 
 and is of quite a different character to the tamein. Each pattern of tamein, however, has, 
 I believe, its appropriate skirt, and is sold with or without the latter. The skirt is almost 
 universally of a pale pink, woven with an upper border of close narrow stripes of various 
 dark colours, enlivened with threads of silver. 
 
 The broad but very short web formed by the united tamein and skirt is wound tight 
 round the body and limbs, and tucked into itself at the waist The skirt generally drags 
 to the length of nine or ten inches on the ground, and the graceful management of this 
 skirt, which always has a tendency to entangle the feet, appears to be one of the accom- 
 plishments of a Burmese lady, as well as of the dancers in the Pue. 
 
 The bust is covered, more or less, by a bodice or wrapper, generally of red English 
 cotton cloth, called tabhet, or by a sort of polka jacket of velvet or other rich material. 
 Over the bodice is often worn a transparent jacket of flowered muslin. 
 
 The hair is always dressed a la Chinoise, and gathered in a knot at the back of the 
 head. This they encircle and adorn very tastefully and gracefully with garlands of real 
 or artificial flowers. The latter are neatly cut out of solah.* Capillary deficiencies are 
 often supplied artificially. I was surprised, in a list of property made out to be charged 
 against the Burmese Government, as having been carried off from a village near the 
 frontier, to find an entry of " Twelve sets of false hair." Ladies, when in full dress, 
 
 * The pith from which hats are made in Bengai, and from a species of which the Chinese rice-paper 
 is now known to be made. The plants belong, I believe, to the order Araliacice. 
 
156 THE CITY OF AMAKAPOORA. 
 
 generally dust their faces and arms with sandal-wood powder, which has not a pleasing 
 effect to a foreign eye. 
 
 Printed imitations of the gay tameins, both in silk and in calico, are imported from 
 England to Rangoon, but do not seem yet to have found favour at Amarapoora. A much 
 coarser kind printed there has some sale, however, especially among the poor for children's 
 clothing. 
 
 The process, with that of dyeing, is almost a spicialiti of the Kathe Mahomedans, who 
 occupy rather an extensive quarter near the Sagyeen-wa creek. As we saw it, the cloth 
 used was a paltry English cotton, thickly plastered with lime-starch. The stamp employed 
 was a small board, in size and appearance much like an old shoe-brush. The operator sat 
 on the floor, having the web of cloth lying over a stool before him. The stamp was pressed 
 on a colour pad, and then on the cloth, the result of each application being a band of wavy 
 red stripes about nine inches long, and four broad ; the direction and continuity of the 
 stripes between one pressure and the next being only guided by the eye. Narrower stripes 
 of green and purple were afterwards interpolated by a second and third series of operations. 
 The price was stated to be about a shilling a-yard. 
 
 Another process followed by the same people is that of dyeing blue cotton, bandanas, or 
 bird's-eye handkerchiefs. In this case the web was stretched between supports. An 
 implement, consisting of a small board stuck over with long pegs of bamboo in the pattern 
 of the desired spots, was dipt in a vessel of melted wax and applied to the cloth. The 
 wax penetrating, formed a spot on both sides as a protection against the action of the 
 dye. The web was then passed five or six times through a dye of inferior indigo, and 
 after being dried was washed in hot water. The wax then melts off, and the white spots 
 appear. 
 
 The indigo used was moist and muddy, seeming never to have been pressed. It is 
 grown and manufactured near Sagain. 
 
 Both these processes are very rude ; but as they are both new within the last twenty 
 years, perhaps they show a tendency to improvement. Neither, however, is practised by 
 people of Burman race. Both processes are probably borrowed from India ; and whatever 
 demand there may be for the articles, will probably soon be met by the much cheaper an_ 
 vastly superior English prints. 
 
 Another trade extensively followed by Rathe" Mahomedans is that of silk-spinning. 
 The spinning-wheel is a very neat and effective implement, winding thread off four or five 
 spindles at a time. 
 
 The silk bazar is the gayest and most attractive part of the streets of Amarapoora. 
 The other shops have not much variety. Those where lackered-ware is sold are perhaps 
 the most interesting. The best part of what is sold here comes from Pagan and Nyoungoo. 
 It consists of ouks, as the large pagoda-shaped boxes used by the Burmese for carrying 
 food and other things are called, mugs and vases, and round boxes of all sizes, from two 
 inches diameter up to twenty, &c. 
 
 Excepting the coarser ouks, many of which are made of wood, and give employment in 
 their manufacture to numerous carpenters in the suburbs, the basis of all these lackered 
 
THE CITY OF AMAKAPOORA. 15? 
 
 articles is a fine elastic wicker-work of split bamboo. This is covered with a paste and 
 with several successive coats of varnish, of different tints. Patterns are produced by gently 
 scraping off the upper coat or coats with an iron style, so as to disclose the colour of the 
 substratum.* The design on these vessels is generally very characteristic and effectives 
 consisting often of elephants, demons, or other monsters, strangely blending with the quaint 
 ornamentation, as in the patterns which the Burmese have tattooed upon them ; but they 
 are rarely fine enough to bear close inspection. The coarser work is amazingly cheap. 
 Ten or twelve half-pint mugs may be had for one rupee, whilst a single mug of good finish 
 will cost the same sum. 
 
 The contents of the small-ware shops, which are a numerous class, have been indicated 
 in my notice of the stalls near the city gates. The number of dealers in sandals and combs 
 is marvellous. Many keepers of stalls for small wares are Shans, who are numerous at 
 Amarapoora, and many of them we used to see coming in from the eastward laden with 
 umbrellas of bamboo and oiled paper, of which the consumption appears to be immense. 
 The Shan is, I think, generally a smaller man than the Burman, with features more 
 resembling the Chinese. He is easily known by his black jacket of glazed calico, and 
 short blue breeches. The former article of clothing is also largely imported from the Shan 
 provinces. 
 
 The Shans arrive from the eastward and south-eastward in large numbers, in Decem- 
 ber, January, and February, taking up their quarters at Paleit, a village on the Myit-nge, 
 south of the capital, for the convenience of forage. They bring for sale stick-lac, glazed 
 jackets, paper, a sort of coarse nankeen cloth, with quantities of ground-nuts (Arachis hypo- 
 gasa), and sweetmeats made of palm-sugar, taking back chiefly salt. Many of them go on 
 from the capital to visit the Pagoda of Shwe-zettau,t a very sacred place of pilgrimage, 
 and containing a Prabat or impression of the foot of Gautama, near the eastern foot of the 
 Aracan mountains on the road to Aeng. 
 
 The copper-smiths' and brass-founders' shops are worthy of a visit. Their principal 
 business is derived, I imagine, from the love of bells and gongs that prevails in Burma. 
 These are to be had of all sorts and sizes, from the little bells in strings intended to adorn 
 an ox's neck, to the massive ecclesiastical implement which 
 hangs in a pagoda enclosure. 
 
 These large bells are generally cast open at the top, and 
 seldom have any tone such as their size leads one to expect 
 The gongs are far better. Little circular gongs of six or 
 seven inches diameter have often surprising sweetness of tone, 
 and the triangular gong, (peculiar I believe to Burma), which the 
 people strike on holidays as they pass along the streets to worship 
 at the pagodas, is quite remarkable for its musical, prolonged, 
 and surging vibrations. Besides these may be found at the 
 
 shops we speak of, basins and dishes of Chinese and Burman manufacture, cymbals, weights 
 (invariably cast in the form of the Henza, or sacred goose), mortars, stirrups, elephant 
 
 * See a further notice of this manufacture in chapter vii. t Burney's Journal. 
 
158 
 
 THE CITY OF AMATiAFOOIiA. 
 
 Fig. 30. 
 
 r 
 
 trappings, &c. The smiths and ironmongers have less to show. 
 Sometimes you may see at their shops the Htees intended for 
 Pagoda tops. The making of these curious structures must be 
 much simplified by the introduction of English hoop and sheet- 
 iron, from which they are said to be now generally manufactured. 
 When wrought from indigenous iron, they must have been 
 really meritorious works of practical art. The common iron- 
 shops exhibit only nails, stirrup-irons, small shovels or mat- 
 tocks, rough dhas,* hinges, screw, rudes padlocks, and the like. 
 The numerous Chinese shops are exact repetitions of each 
 other. The articles they contain have been detailed in my list 
 of the imports from China. 
 Tin-smiths are numerous near the Chinese quarter. Nearly the whole of their material 
 is, I believe, derived from the tin packing-cases which bring out English goods to Rangoon. 
 Their solder was worked with resin in the usual way, and appeared to be genuine soft 
 solder. It is imported from the Shan country in small rods, bearing evident marks of 
 having been cast in bamboo moulds. 
 
 One of the chief manufactures of the tin-smiths is that of lanterns, which are good and 
 cheap. Some are made after the common square English pattern; others, apparently 
 intended to imitate the Chinese elliptical horn lanterns, have curved ribs and sides, and are 
 very neatly made. As the curved sides were of good glass, I was curious to know where 
 they were procured. The reply was that they got English glass, and bent it to the desired 
 form. Other articles made in the tin-shops are small teapots, and powder-flasks. In one 
 
 shop tin bandoliers for the army were 
 being made in great numbers. 
 
 Some of the tin-smiths have also 
 a large business in the craft of Deme- 
 trius, with their humbler material. 
 They make shrines for images of 
 Gautama. For these, the tin is cut 
 and moulded in fanciful patterns, and 
 japanned in a bronze colour. The 
 same artists seemed to be employed in 
 ornamenting wooden shrines of similar 
 character, and chests also, with a mo- 
 saic of mirror, tin, and coloured glass. 
 
 Fi 2 . 31 
 
 * The dha, or bill, in various forms, is the inseparable companion of every man among the hundred 
 forest tribes of Trans-Gangetic India. Among the civilized Burmans it is, of course, more confined to 
 the lower orders, the peasantry and boatmen, except as a weapon of war. The Burman dha is a weapon 
 about three feet long, with a slight uniform curve from end to end. About three-sevenths of this length 
 is helve, the rest blade. The blade is generally about an inch and a quarter wide, with an obtuse point. 
 It serves every purpose that a cutting weapon can serve, from making a toothpick to felling a tree, or 
 killing a pig, or an enemy. Very long and heavy dhas were worn by some of the court officials, probably 
 gardes-du-corps. 
 
THE CITY OF AMAEAl'OOUA. 
 
 1.59 
 
 A combination of carved and gilt work, with geometrical patterns inlaid in mirror, is a 
 favourite style of art among the Burmese, both in the adornment of the more splendid 
 monastic buildings and in articles of furniture. It is often rude and incapable of bearing 
 close inspection, but always effective. These, indeed, are the characteristics of Burmese 
 art. A specimen is given above (fig. 31) of one of the chests made in this style for present- 
 ation to the monks as bibliothecs, commonly known among the plunderers of the British 
 army as " phoongyi boxes." The relieved ornaments are moulded in a species of cement 
 compounded of the resin called tldtsee,* which is used by the Burmans very much for the 
 same purposes as gutta-percha now is in England by carvers and gilders. 
 
 In the workshop of an artist in this style, within the walls, I saw some panelling which 
 was being made for a room in the Palace. The panels were of mirror, with sunk centres 
 containing gilt ornaments moulded in cement. The ridges between the panels were in 
 glass and gold, with gilt rosettes at the intersections, and the whole effect was very 
 brilliant. 
 
 Many of the carpenters, a very numerous body in the capital, are good carvers in a 
 similar rough but bold style. Their principal employment is in working for the adorn- 
 ment of the exterior of monasteries. In one yard which 
 I visited, about a hundred sawyers and carpenters were 
 engaged in preparing the materials of a monastery, 
 which the King was building at Sagain. They said 
 there was no plan of the Kyoung drawn out, but that 
 the master-workmen in that business only required to 
 be told to build a Kyoung of so many cubits long and 
 broad. All the details are, I imagine, traditionally 
 proportioned, with a certain latitude to individual 
 fancy. 
 
 I give here an illustration of their art in minor 
 articles of wood sculpture (fig. 32). It represents a 
 stand for a mirror. I brought away also from Amara- 
 poora a very spirited figure of an elephant, carved in 
 teak. In treating this animal, it strikes me that the 
 Burmese have a peculiar spirit and felicity. 
 
 A humbler branch of carpentry, that occupies 
 many workshops in the main street of the suburb, is trunk-making. The boxes are of 
 teak, capitally dove-tailed at the angles, and very cheap. They were duly prized by our 
 party, and scarcely an officer, soldier, or lascar, came away without a specimen. 
 
 Looking-glass fitting is another business which seems to have many practitioners. 
 Whole grosses of small portable round glasses are exposed for sale at their shops, and I 
 was amused to see at one of them a wholesale manufacture going on of regular toilet-glass 
 frames, with the orthodox drawers, &c. 
 
 There are two or three houses of glass-blowers in the Chinese quarter, which we visited. 
 • The Thitsee tree is, I believe, Melanorrhaa usitata. 
 
 Fig. 32. 
 
 S 
 
160 
 
 THE CITY OF AMAKArOORA. 
 
 But with a baffling mystery or timidity, which not seldom obstructed our curiosity, the 
 people professed ignorance or the absence of the operators, and we could learn nothing as 
 to their process. I suspect, however, that they only melt and re-blow English glass, as is 
 practised in some Indian towns ; Hurdwar, for instance. The bottles which I have seen of 
 the Amarapoora manufacture were of fair texture and transparency, and greatly superior 
 to the paltry and fragile phials produced at Hurdwar. 
 
 Earthenware shops are numerous, and sometimes exhibit very tasteful water-goglets 
 (fig. 33). Pipe-bowls, like coarse Turkish chibouks, and lamps like the genuine Roman lamp, 
 
 are exposed in heaps. I have also seen teapots of humor- 
 ous design, in the form of ducks, &c. Earthenware, on a 
 very large scale, I saw used for capping the posts of the 
 lower platforms in monasteries. These caps were up- 
 wards of two feet in diameter, ornamented with well- 
 formed bas-reliefs of flowers and figures, and covered 
 with a good brown glaze. 
 
 The gold and silver smiths in the city execute rough 
 but effective work in embossed cups, &c. Their favourite 
 pattern is the circle of the Zodiacal signs, which they 
 have derived from India. Some of the work which we 
 saw at Court in the wrought fibula? of the tsal-wis, or 
 chains of nobility, was of a much higher order in exe- 
 cution. But in general, the gold and silver work is in- 
 ferior, I believe, to that of Tenasserim, and greatly behind 
 that of India. 
 
 The sale of articles of food is almost confined to 
 specific market-places, where the stalls of the dealers 
 are densely congregated under a rude colonnade of bamboos matted over. A walk through 
 one of these, about four o'clock in the afternoon, gave us a great idea of the population. 
 The crowd and bustle of eager purchasers was almost comparable to that of a London 
 market on Saturday night. The most abundant article seemed to me to be a species of 
 broad bean. There was, however, a -variety of edibles; mushrooms in large quantities, 
 fish, pumpkins, ngape,* palm sugar, custard-apples, plantains, oranges, love-apples, &c. 
 But it must be said that the Burmese fruit-and-vegetable market has little to boast of. 
 The only good fruit that we got was the custard-apple. Oranges were promising, but 
 
 * The paste of mashed and pickled fish, resembling very rank shrimp-paste, which is the favourite 
 condiment of the Indo-Chinese races. It is the baldchong of the Malays, and the kapee of Siam. Putre- 
 scent fish, in some shape or other, is a characteristic article of diet among all these races, from the 
 mountains of Sylhet to the Isles of the Archipelago. To the Chinese also, Sir John Bowring 
 observes, " Fish is the more acceptable when it has a strong fragrance and flavour to give more gusto to 
 the rice." (Letter in the Journal of the Statistical Society, quoted in " Times" 12th March, 1857.) 
 
 Makertich, the Armenian, assured us that the jars of ngape at Amarapoora exhibited a flux and 
 reflux of tide with the changes of the moon. I see this is an old belief. De la Loubere mentions it in 
 1688, as held by the Siamese. 
 
 Fig. 33. 
 
m 
 
 
 
THE CITY OF AMAEATOOEA. 161 
 
 scarcely ripe. The plantains were contemptible, woolly, and tasteless.* Illapdt, too, or 
 pickled tea as we call it, was in the market, looking like spinach or damp Latakia. I was 
 about to taste it as it stood, but the good woman of the stall insisted on preparinc it 
 systematically for me. She took a small pinch of the tea, dipped it in a plate of millet 
 grains, then added garlic and assafcetida, and dashing over all a spoonful of oil, presented 
 it to me. I made bold to taste, but nothing was perceptible except the overpowering 
 assafcetida. 
 
 Rice was not sold in the market-place. Its sale seemed entirely to occupy some of the 
 back streets, where it was spread out in heaps before the doors. But there were no shops 
 exactly corresponding to that of the Indian bunya. 
 
 At a certain part of the main street in the suburb there are numerous alfresco cook- 
 shops, where we used to see whole families seated at small tables, under slight awnings, 
 and dining on savoury-looking dishes. There were roast fowl of monstrous dimensions, 
 vermicelli, rice, chilis, vegetable soup, &c. &c. About one anna for two small basins of 
 sundries was said to be the price. Chopsticks were set out for the Chinamen, and spoons 
 for the natives. For the Burmese sup all things. 
 
 As we pass westward to the outskirts of the suburb, the streets are shaded with noble 
 tamarind-trees. Here, on the banks of the Sagyeen-wa creek, which bounds the peninsula, 
 are the densely peopled burying-grounds of the Chinese and of the Mahomedans. The 
 creek is spanned by three fine wooden bridges, and from the extreme south-western point 
 of the peninsula runs across the lake the long bridge, which was for some time our only 
 and circuitous communication with the city. It starts from a dense cluster of small pagodas 
 of all shapes and kinds, and high among the fan-leaves of the palm-trees which are inter- 
 spersed rises a huge sitting figure of Gautama, gazing on the lake with a placid and eternal 
 smile, which always recalled to us, as no other Buddhist figure did, the characteristic 
 expression of the colossi of the Nile.f 
 
 Close to the debouchure of the Sagyeen-wa, in the Irawadi, is a small quarter of some 
 thirty houses, which borrows its name from the creek. It is occupied exclusively by public 
 prostitutes. These unfortunates are all slaves, and have been sold as such by their imme- 
 diate relations, or given over to creditors, in discharge of debt, and by the latter transferred 
 to the Sagyeen-wa-yat (quarter). Instances occur of men designedly marrying girls of 
 good looks and family, for the express purpose of making money by them in this manner, 
 or to satisfy the claims of an importunate creditor, by whom they are transferred to the 
 quarter. The women themselves have no share in the produce of their wretched traffic, 
 but are often beaten by the old woman in whose immediate charge they are, when their 
 gains do not come up to her expectations. 
 
 Besides the western suburb, which has led us into such numerous digressions, other 
 
 * The fetid Dorian, prince of fruits to those who like it, but chief of abominations to all strangers 
 and novices, does not grow within the present territories of Ava, but the King makes great efforts to 
 obtain a supply in eatable condition from the Tenasserim coast. King Tharawadi used to lay post- 
 horses from Martaban to Ava, to bring his odoriferous delicacy. 
 
 t See Plate XVIII. 
 
162 XKE CITY OF AMAllAPOOKA. 
 
 suburbs, of much smaller size and importance, extend beyond the northern and eastern 
 gates. 
 
 One of the most conspicuous objects in the northern suburb is the Ye-nan-dau, or 
 Water-Palace of the King. It is an extensive timber building in the monastic style, with 
 a pyasath or wooden spire, and is elevated on piles over the edge of the creek. In the 
 flood season it is completely insulated, and must then be a very picturesque object. Here 
 the King used to sit to witness the races of the war-boats, but it is said that these sports 
 have fallen into disfavour since the loss of the lower provinces, which supplied probably the 
 best boatmen, and formed the principal field for their employment. 
 
 From the eastern part of the northern wall of the city, and along the narrowest part of 
 the peninsula, two parallel roads run due north towards the Maha-myat-muni, or temple 
 of the celebrated brass idol brought from Aracan in 1784. This temple is about two miles 
 from the city gates, and is the most popular place of worship in the metropolis or its neigh- 
 bourhood. 
 
 The most westerly of these roads is that thronged by the holiday worshippers, and 
 abounds in shops for cheap articles of clothing. Here, too, are most of the brass-founders, 
 and the marble-cutters, whose bells and images are most likely to find purchasers from folk 
 bound on errands of devotion. 
 
 In a house near this road also I found a woman carrying on another curious art, indirectly 
 connected with ecclesiastical objects. The Buddhist monks are very careful of their books, 
 looking on them with even a religious veneration, and keep them not only shut up in hand- 
 some chests, but carefully wrapt in chintz cov«rs (as is also common in India). These 
 covers are tied on with a peculiar style of ribbon, bearing a long inscription of a religious 
 character. These ribbons are worked either in silk or cotton, and are a common present 
 from devout ladies to their spiritual guides. The beauty and accuracy with which the 
 round Burmese character is formed on these ribbons had before struck me, and is indeed 
 quite remarkable. It might give a lesson to our fair countrywomen, whose alphabetical 
 attempts in any sutile medium seldom come nearer the intended inscription than would be 
 its reflection on the agitated surface of water. 
 
 The second road to the Aracan temple is an elaborate raised causeway, paved and 
 parapetted throughout with brickwork. For a great part of the distance this causeway is 
 bordered on both sides with monastic buildings, and among these are structures undoubtedly 
 the most magnificent in the whole country, and on which the utmost resources of Burman 
 art and wealth have been lavished. 
 
 To give an idea of any of these is difficult, and to describe many of them would be 
 tiresome. But, aided by illustrations from Captain Tripe's photographs, I will endeavour 
 to give my impressions of the two most elaborate, the Malia Toolut Boungyo and the 
 Malta Oomiye-peima. 
 
 These timber buildings are necessarily of short duration, and when the richness and 
 elaboration of any one of them has peculiarly struck us, we have invariably found it to be 
 of comparatively recent construction. The two edifices named are said to have been built 
 at the cost of the two chief ladies of the kingdom, the former by the present King's step- 
 
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THE CITY OF AMARATOORA. 163 
 
 mother, now Queen Dowager, and the latter by her daughter the Princess Royal, now 
 Queen Consort of Burma. 
 
 They both embrace extensive groups of monasteries and shrines, each group enclosed 
 in its own walled area. The centre building in each case is a large kyoung of the usual 
 oblong construction,* nearly 300 feet in length. The first floor, the only real floor in fact, 
 spreads in a wide platform, from which the inhabited building rises in four successive tiers 
 of roof.f The whole building from the balcony upwards is gilt, and the eaves, gables, and 
 balusters are carved in the usual manner. 
 
 But it is on a smaller building at the north-east angle of this central kyoung, and only a 
 few yards distant from it, that in each of the two groups the luxury of Burmese art has 
 been so freely expended. 
 
 In the Malia Toolut Boungyo this smaller building was also on the usual monastic plan, 
 having a detached hall at the west end, and three shrines with tapering spires abreast of one 
 another at the west end, but all rising out of the same platform at the level of the first floor. 
 The whole building was carved like an ivory toy, and was a blaze of gold and other sparkling 
 ornament. Even the posts of the basement story were gilt, which is seldom the case, and 
 
 * See Appendix F on the plan of Burmese monasteries. 
 
 f Not in successive stories. There is but one actual inhabited floor, though the exterior of the 
 building assumes the form of several gradually diminishing stories. These doubtless were originally 
 intended to imitate the really many-storied monasteries of ancient Buddhist India and Ceylon, such as 
 the great rock-cut monastery in the Deccan, of which the five stories are said by Fa Hian to have con- 
 tained 500, 400, 300, 200, and 100 cells respectively, or the Maha Lowa Paya at Anuradhapoor, which is 
 reported to have been nine stories high. (Fergusson's Handbook of Architecture) 
 
 An effectual bar to the actual adoption of these many-storied buildings in Burma exists in the 
 deeply-rooted prejudice of every man in the nation against allowing any one not of admitted superiority 
 in rank to occupy a more elevated position than himself. That any person should occupy a floor over 
 one's head would be felt as an intense degradation. Hence, though the inhabited floors of nearly all 
 buildings in Burma are raised to some height above the ground, there is no such thing properly as a 
 two-storied dwelling in the country, excepting some few belonging to foreigners. 
 
 The same prejudice is, I presume, at the bottom of the etiquette which renders it a grievous solecism 
 to stand in the presence of a superior. 
 
 This prejudice exists also in Siam, and among other eastern races. The etiquette just spoken of is, 
 I believe, almost universal among the Polynesian islanders. In Java, too, Baffles says, that " instead of 
 an assembly rising on the entrance of a great man, as in Europe,it sinks to the ground during his presence." 
 And " when a native chief moves abroad, it is usual for all the people of inferior rank among whom he 
 passes to lower their bodies to the ground till they actually sit on their heels, and to remain in this 
 posture until he is gone by." {History of Java, i. 309.) This last usage is also common in Burma, and 
 I have heard, I am sorry to say, that it has been encouraged by some of the smaller politicals in our 
 Burmese provinces. 
 
 I do not know how to reconcile with the ancient existence of the great Singalese monastery above 
 mentioned, the fact that this prejudice against the superior elevation of one's neighbours is very strong 
 in Ceylon also, unless it has been derived in later times from intercourse with their co-religionists in 
 Burma and the East. Forbes {Ceylon, i. 217) mentions a ludicrous scene at Colombo, where this punc- 
 tilio led a Kaudyan ambassador to remonstrate against entering a carriage, because the coachman occu- 
 pied a higher seat than his own. To the same reason is generally ascribed the little use made by the 
 Kings of Ava of the carriages, which have at various times been sent to them as presents, and the fact 
 that when they do use them they are always drawn by men. 
 
164 THE CITY OF AMARAPOORA. 
 
 so were the brick staircases and parapets ascending to the platform, which I have never 
 seen elsewhere. 
 
 The brackets or corbels from the outer posts, which support the projecting eaves of the 
 platform above, were griffins or dragons with the head downwards, the feet grasping the 
 post, and the tail rising in alternate flexures, which seemed almost to writhe and undulate 
 as we looked. No art could be better of its kind. The outer range of posts rose as usual 
 through the platform, forming massive props or stanchions for the balustrade above. The 
 tops of these posts were gorgeously carved and hollowed into the semblance of an imperial 
 crown, with various figures under its arches. The successive roofs were sheeted with zinc, 
 that glanced in the sun like silver, and the panelled walls which rose in diminishing area 
 from roof to roof were set round with half columns diapered with a mosaic of mirror, which 
 looked like silver covered with network of gold. Even the ladders that leant against the 
 walls, to give access from roof to roof in case of repair being needed, were covered with 
 gilding and inlaid with mirror-work. 
 
 In the basement story were some curious works of art in another style. On the plas- 
 tered reverse of the gilded staircases were paintings representing different nations, such as 
 Burmese, Chinamen, Shans, and Englishmen. These were drawn with a good deal of 
 character. The Chinese were done with much truth and spirit, and the Englishman with 
 his dog and gun was most laughably recognisable, and far better in resemblance, as well as 
 spirit, than any of the common Hindoo attempts to represent us. 
 
 Two paved and slightly raised platforms in the interior of the basement were set around 
 with small flags of sandstone about a foot square, carved in a sort of bas-relief, or compound 
 between bas-relief and incised outline. One set consisted entirely of representations of biliis, 
 or demon monkeys, in all sorts of quaint action and attitude, catching different animals, 
 fighting with them or tormenting them, riding on goats, crabs, elephants, tortoises, and what 
 not. The other set mainly represented animals of all kinds in different attitudes, elephants, 
 buffaloes, deer, oxen, hares, &c, some of them apparently engaged in Esopean dialogues. 
 Nearly all these, though very rudely drawn and executed, had the humour and spirit of true 
 genius. One figure for instance, of a bilu catching a goat by the hind leg with one hand 
 and diligently punching him with the other, was capital. Another, of a hare crouched on 
 his hafns, in earnest conversation with a second of the same species standing on his hind 
 legs in an admonitory attitude, spontaneously recalled to two of the party the spirit of 
 Grandville's celebrated illustrations to La Fontaine.* I have already noticed the special 
 gift of the Burmese in representing elephants. Here we had them in all sorts of positions, 
 sometimes represented as fore-shortened with their backs to the spectator, which I conceive 
 is rather an achievement in bas-relief.f 
 
 The Maha Oomiye-peima is in plan and general character, as we have said, quite similar 
 to the preceding building, but it even exceeds it in gorgeousness of adornment. So the 
 
 * Sir J. Bowring says the hare is "a popular animal, and a frequent actor in the talcs and fables of 
 the Siamese." (i. 225.) 
 
 t Sec some of these in Plate XXI. 
 
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 --'" aC '■***•"-/* "^ -f^Oj !fc-^->* S~ ^~ ~s~ - 
 
 
 
 SPECIMENS OF HUMOUROUS BAS-RELIEFS ON THE PAVEMENT OF A 
 WONASTERV AT AMARAPOORA . 
 
TIIE CITY OF AMARAPOORA. 1(55 
 
 Burmese told us before we had seen it, and whilst we were admiring the Toolut Boungyo. 
 We were not inclined to believe them, but they were justified by the fact, as we found on 
 passing into the adjacent enclosure. 
 
 In this second building the three spires remain ungilt, the work probably having been 
 interrupted by the civil commotions of 1852. The contrast thus arising between the 
 mellow colour of the teak and the brilliant mass of gold is no detriment to the effect. The 
 posts of the basement, instead of being wholly gilt, are covered with scarlet lacker banded 
 with gilded carving. From post to post run cusped arches in open filagree-work of gilding, 
 very delicate and beautiful. The corbels bearing the balcony are more fantastic and less 
 artistic than at the Toolut Boungyo. Instead of dragons they here consist of human 
 figures in rich dresses, with the scallop wings of the Burman military costume, and wearing 
 the heads of various animals, elephants, bulls, &c. These figures are all in different 
 dancing attitudes, and all jewelled and embellished in sparkling mosaic of mirror and 
 gilding. 
 
 The balcony balustrade is quite unique. Instead of the usual turned rails, or solid 
 carved panels, it is a brilliant open work of interlacing scrolls, the nuclei of the compart- 
 ments into which the scrolls arrange themselves, being fanciful, fairy-like figures in com- 
 plete relief, somewhat awkward in drawing but spirited in action. Below this balcony is 
 an exquisite drooping eaves-board, in shield-like tracery, with interlacing scrolls cut through 
 the wood like lacework. 
 
 The staircase parapets (gilt masonry) are formed in scrolls of snakes scaled with green 
 looking-glass, and each discharging from its mouth a wreath of flowers in white mirror 
 mosaic. The posts are crowned with tapering htees, inferior in effect to the imperial crowns 
 of the other monastery. The panels of the walls in the upper stories are exquisitely 
 diapered and flowered in mosaic of looking-glass, whilst the eaves-crests and ridge-crest 
 (the latter most delicate and brilliant) are of open carving in lattice-work and flame-points 
 tipped with sparkling mirror. The indispensable religious pinnacles or finials, with their 
 peculiar wooden vanes or flags, are of unusually fanciful and delicate carving, each crowned 
 with its miniature golden htee and bells. 
 
 It is impossible to look at these Kyoungs without a feeling of wonder how a people so 
 deficient in all domestic appliances should be capable of designing and executing such 
 exquisite workmanship.* And one despairs of being able to exhibit to visitors from such 
 a people, in any of our Anglo-Indian cities at least, works which they are likely to appre- 
 ciate as indicative of our superior wealth and resources. 
 
 The Maha Toolut Boungyo is the residence of the Tlia-thana Bain, " The Defender of 
 the Faith," High priest, or Patriarch of all the Poongyis. 
 
 The colossal brass image in the Aracan Pagoda is a Gautama in the usual sitting atti- 
 tude on a " Raja Palen," or throne of the peculiar character used by the King in«the state 
 audience-hall. The figure is about twelve feet high, with all the limbs in proportion. 
 
 * Yet Mr. Crawfurd speaks of Burmese work of this kind as much inferior in execution to that of 
 Siam. 
 
1 66 THE CITY OF AMARAPOORA. 
 
 The face is polished quite bright, and all the rest of the idol is thickly encrusted with gold 
 leaf, the accumulation of years, and of the offerings of thousands of votaries. "This 
 image," Major Phayrc remarked to the Woondouk who accompanied him on his visit to 
 the temple, " is of very ancient date, I believe ?"* " It is," replied he ; " and a faithful re- 
 presentation of the living original. When the Lord Gaudama visited Aracan, Chanda 
 Surya was the King of that country. The Buddha being about to depart, the King prayed 
 him to leave his blessed resemblance and substitute with them, as some consolation for his 
 absence. The Buddha consented ; several attempts were made to cast an image, but they 
 all failed. At length, by the divine interposition, the present image was successfully 
 obtained." f 
 
 The Envoy ascended the Rajah Paldn, and the Burmese made no objection to his 
 examining the idol closely, and taking off for that purpose the Thengan or ecclesiastical 
 robe which partially shrouded it. It is said to have been brought across the mountains in 
 two or more pieces. But Major Phayre could trace no marks of breakage or separation in 
 the metal, owing perhaps to the thick covering of gold-leaf. The people denied that the 
 image had been broken. It is however very improbable that such a large mass of metal 
 should have been carried across the mountains in one piece. It is said to have been brought 
 by the Toungoop pass ; over which a carriage road from Prome to the sea is now. being 
 constructed by Lieut. Forlong. 
 
 The image stands in a small and gloomy arched chamber of masonry, having only one 
 entrance. Over this has been constructed a handsome wooden Pyasath or spire, richly 
 carved and gilt. 
 
 There are two entrances to the enclosure in which the grotto or image-chamber stands. 
 These communicate with the two roads from the- city which have been mentioned above, 
 and from the image to each outer gate covered-ways have been constructed of beautifully 
 carved wood, adorned at intervals with spires of the usual form. These have not been 
 built more than seven or eight years. Underneath these arcades are found numerous nuns, 
 cripples, blind and diseased persons. Here also at all times, but especially on worship 
 days, is held a sort of fair, where stalls for fruit, sweetmeats, flowers, tapers, and other 
 articles used as offerings, as well as for ear-cylinders and all sorts of toys and gimcracks 
 
 * I did not see the interior of this temple, and I am indebted to Major Phayre for these notes 
 regarding it. 
 
 t " The Buddhists of Ceylon have a legend, that in the lifetime of Gotama Buddha an image of the 
 founder of their religion was made by the order of the King of Kosala, and the Chinese have a similar 
 story ; but it is rejected by the more intelligent of the priests, who regard it as an invention to attract 
 worshippers to the temples." (Hardy's Eastern Monachism, p. 199.) The externals of Buddhism often 
 remind us of some of the forms or corruptions that have appeared in connexion with the Christian 
 Faith. In these stories we have a parallel to the Romanist legend of St. Veronica and the Sudarium. 
 The footprints of Gautama are matched, it is painful enough to think, to some extent on the sacred 
 summit of Olivet, as well as in grosser instances at Rome and Poitiers. (Arthur Stanley's Sinai and. 
 Palestine, p. 446.) In fact, in Buddhism we have the whole system of Komanist relic-worship, and 
 developed in many instances to an extraordinary exactitude of resemblance. 
 
 ', The Buddha foot-prints have also their parallel in the print of the foot of Hercules on a rock among 
 the Scythians, which Herodotus mentions (iv. 82). 
 

 TJm f SmMJiFix thf ?«rtn 
 
THE CITY OF AMARA.POORA. 167 
 
 and small wares, line the passage to the temple. Certain shops here for the sale of toy 
 figures and supple-jacks have a special celebrity among the juveniles of Amarapoora. 
 
 The pagoda slaves are the descendants of those who were brought away captives, along 
 with the image, from Aracan, and amount it is said to several hundreds. In the enclosure 
 are some thin brass images of warriors, biliis and monsters, which also were brought from 
 Aracan. These do not appear to be much cared for, and are partially broken. 
 
 Under a long shed are deposited stone inscriptions, between two and three hundred in 
 number. These Major Phayre found not to be originals nor exact copies of originals. It 
 was found that ancient stone writings at Pagan and elsewhere were being defaced, especi- 
 ally where certain persons were mentioned therein as being dedicated to the temple as 
 slaves. The descendants of these persons apparently tried to rid themselves of the stigma, 
 and hence the inscriptions were defaced. 
 
 Pagoda slaves in Burma are outcasts. The great body of the people will not associate 
 with them, nor intermarry in their families. They cannot throw off the stigma which 
 attaches to them, and their descendants are slaves for ever. In order to counteract the 
 object which these slaves are supposed to have had in view, copies of the most celebrated 
 inscriptions, or of the essential portions of them, have been taken and preserved here. 
 
 The King, it is said, comes to worship the Aracan image about once in six months. -. 
 
 Closely adjoining the Aracan temple is the Mahayetna-boung-dau, probably the largest 
 monastery in the country. It is quite similar in character to those which I have described 
 as occupying the central position in the areas of the Queen's monasteries, but of greater 
 size. This huge building, with its encircling platform, occupies a space of 440 feet by 200, 
 and is supported on 404 massive teak-trees, none of which seemed less than two feet in 
 diameter, and some of which, supporting the central and topmost tier of roof, must be at 
 least 80 feet high. 
 
 The Poongyi, or prior of this monastery, was at the head of the order during the 
 ex-king's reign. But it appears to be customary for every new King to appoint his own 
 patriarch. 
 
 The peninsula on the east of the city walls is bounded by a beautiful lake, or chain of 
 lakes, dammed up by broad and solid bunds, and having the banks crowded with a vast 
 number and variety of religious edifices. But of these we have already described enough, 
 and more than enough, and it is time that this long, and I fear wearisome, detail should 
 close. I will only mention one building more, as it is rather a rarity ; a large and hand- 
 some Tcyoung in brickwork. This was built too by a Mahomedan, Moung Bhai sahib, the 
 infamous Myowoon of the capital under the ex-king, whom he encouraged and exceeded 
 in atrocity, till that Burmese King Bomba, trembling at the rising discontent, cast off his 
 favourite to be mauled and tortured to death amidst the howls of the exulting people : 
 
 "Sejanus ducitur unco 
 Spectandus : gaudent omnes." 
 
CHAPTER VI. 
 
 EXCURSIONS IN THE ENVIRONS OF THE CAHTAL. 
 
 Excursion with Mr. Oldham up the Irawadi — Mengoon Pagoda, its History — ESect of the Earthquake 
 of 1839 — Treasures deposited — Colossal Leogryphs — Great Bell — Its Dimensions — Peculiar Pa- 
 goda, possibly Symbolical of the Mundane System — Col. Symes's Second Visit — Visit Madeyd, and 
 Mendacity of our Official Guide — Burmese Gardens — Visit to White Marble Quarries — Beports of 
 Light-haired People — Marble Hills of Tsagyin — The Serpent Biver — Tseengoo-myo — Caves of Shwe 
 Male — Part from Mr. Oldham — Extracts from his Journal — The Kyouk-dwens, or Defiles of the 
 Irawadi — The Pagoda of Thikadau — Tame Fish — The Buby Mines — Hamadryad Snake — Male — 
 Burman Obstructiveness — My own Bcturn down to the Capital — Visit to a Monastery — Library 
 and Books — Group of Pagodas in glorious Moonlight — Burmese Boatmen — Excursion to Old Ava 
 — the Shwe Kyet Pagodas — Unwitting Occupation of a Pulpit — Chronology of Ava, Pagodas — The 
 King's Barges — Population of Ava — Burmese Preaching — The Inner Fort and Palace of Ava — 
 Modern Burmese Arches — Excursion to the Base of the Shan Mountains — Burmese Elephants — 
 Miry Journey — Beautiful Scenery — The Myit-nge Biver — The Paloungs, their Import of Tea and 
 Export of Salt — The Myit-nge Biver — Walk through the Jungle — Mr. Oldham ascends the Mya- 
 leit Mountains — His Description of the View from the Top — Eeturn to Amarapoora by the Biver 
 — Visit to the Tank or Lake of Oungbengle — Quaint Irrigation Sluices — Boyal Bicc-fields — Village 
 of Oungbengle — Mrs. Judson and her Friends — The Prisoners in the Second War. 
 
 No encouragement was given to our travelling about the country, though perhaps as 
 much liberty in this respect as could have been expected was allowed ; nor was the season 
 very favourable for it. But one or two excursions were made by some of the members of 
 the mission, of which I shall give an account in this section. 
 
 On the 20th September I started with Mr. Oldham on an expedition up the Irawadi. 
 We had to take three boats, as those brought were mere skiffs. We quitted the lake by 
 the Sagyeen-wa creek to the west of the town, passing through three good wooden bridges. 
 These all had openings in the middle for the passage of large boats, varying from eighteen 
 to twenty-four feet in width, and spanned by shifting planks. We had been kept so late that 
 we did not that evening pass more than two or three miles above the city. Amarapoora at 
 this distance looked grand and imposing, the golden pagodas giving great splendour to the 
 landscape. The valley, too, is very beautiful on that side, backed as it is by the fantastic 
 outline of the mountains called Mya-leit-doung to the east of the city. On the west, the 
 Sagain hills rise immediately from the river, but they have an aspect of hopeless barrenness 
 even at this season. We spent the night a little below the village of Tayoup-ta. It is in 
 the immediate vicinity of Made, where the caravans of Chinese Mahomedans have their 
 depot in the cold weather. 
 
 We had little wind next day ; and got on very slowly, though the weather and the 
 
EXCURSIONS IN THE ENVIRONS. 
 
 109 
 
 scenery were most enjoyable. Ten miles above the capital we landed, at Mengoon, to visit 
 the extraordinary Folly of the King Men-tara-gyi, or Bodau Phya (the " Grandfather 
 King), as he is commonly called by the Burmese, the great grandfather of the reigning 
 prince, and founder of Amarapoora. 
 
 This King, who died in 1819, after a rule of nearly forty years, spent twenty years of 
 the earlier part of his reign in piling together this monstrous mass of bricks and mortar, 
 employing on it the unpaid services of a vast number of his subjects, and an expenditure 
 besides, it is said, of 10,000 viss of silver. Some say that it had been foretold to him that 
 when the temple was finished his life would come to an end. But, in any case, he left it 
 incomplete,* and the great earthquake of 1839 shattered it to the foundations. 
 
 This ruin is doubtless one of the hugest masses of solid brickwork in the world. It 
 stands on a basement of five successive terraces of little height, the lower terrace forming a 
 square of about 450 feet. From the upper terrace starts up the vast cubical pile of the 
 pagoda, a square of about 230 feet in plan, and rising to a height of more than 100 feet, 
 with slightly sloping walls. Above this, it contracts in successive terraces, three of which 
 had been completed, or nearly so, at the time the work was abandoned. 
 
 Fig. 34. 
 
 In one of the neighbouring groves is a miniature of the structure (fig. 34), as it was in- 
 
 * In fact during the latter years of his reign the old King was, if not a disbeliever in Buddhist doc- 
 trine, at least most hostile to the priesthood, and the order had for some time scarcely any ostensible 
 existence. He is said to have made the filthy suggestiveness of the numerous prohibitions in the 
 
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170 EXCURSIONS IN THE ENVIRONS. 
 
 tended to be. From this we see that the completed pile would have been little less than 
 500 feet high. The whole height of the ruin as it stands is about 165 feet from the ground, 
 and the solid content must be between 6,000,000 and 7,000,000 of cubic feet of brickwork. 
 
 The fracture that has taken place is tremendous, and the effects of earthquake are seen 
 on a scale that rarely occurs. The whole mass is shattered, torn, and split. Masses of 
 wall 100 feet in height, and from 10 to 20 in thickness, appear as if they had been bodily 
 lifted from their bases, and heaved forward several feet. The angles have chiefly suffered, 
 and these are fallen in a vast pile of ruin ; blocks of coherent brickwork, as big as small 
 houses, lying heaped in hideous confusion on one another. 
 
 Up among the loose bricks and fallen masses at the north-east angle, there is a prac- 
 ticable though not easy ascent. Reaching the top, you find the whole surface rent into 
 prisms by yawning crevasses, like those (as my companion aptly suggested) of an Alpine 
 glacier. A square projection, which rises in the centre above all, appears to be a detached 
 pier descending, unconnected with the rest of the pile, the whole way to the ground. This, 
 too, is thrown much off its perpendicular. 
 
 The whole thing is a perfect geological phenomenon. 
 
 Strange to say, many stacks of bricks still stand in place on the top, as they were left 
 by the bricklayers, probably thirty years before the earthquake ; part of the scaffolding 
 which formed an ascent in the middle of each of the four sides still makes a staggering 
 attempt to hold on to the wall, tall teak masts, with fragmentary gangways attached, which 
 kick their heels in empty air ; and on the basement terraces great heaps of lime, ready for 
 the work, have hardened into anomalous rocks, which will puzzle future geologists. 
 
 There is a doorway on each face;, pedimented and pilastered in the Pagan style of 
 architecture ; but the cavity does not penetrate more than 14 or 15 feet. 
 
 This pagoda was in progress when Captain Hiram Cox was here as Envoy, in 1797 ; 
 and he gives a curious account of the manner in which the interior of the basement was 
 formed for the reception of the dedicated treasures. A number of quadrangular pits or 
 cells were formed in the brickwork for this purpose. These were all lined with plates of 
 lead, and were roofed with beams of lead about five inches square. This precious engineer- 
 ing device for the support of a spire 500 feet high was one of his majesty's own conception, 
 and perhaps may have given rise to various patched cracks in the brickwork, which are 
 evidently of older date than the earthquake.* Rumours of the greatness of the deposited 
 
 Wini (Sansc. Vinaya), the book which regulates the life and conversation of the monks, a pretext for the 
 suppression of the order. 
 
 It appears, however, from Padre Sangermano, that about the beginning of the century he abandoned 
 his Palace and its fair inmates, retiring to Mengoon, with some idea of adopting the ascetic life, and 
 getting himself acknowledged as the new Buddha. But the orthodoxy of the Poongyis was proof 
 against all his arguments ; he threw up his" pretensions to Buddahood, returned to his seraglio, and 
 cherished a lasting hostility to the ecclesiastics. On his death the yellow robes rapidly effloresced 
 again all over the country. (See Judson's Life, i. pp. 173, 191, etc. Sangermano's Burmese Empire, pp. 
 59, 90, etc.) 
 
 * These cracks are mentioned by Colonel Burney, who says the natives ascribed them to an earth- 
 quake which had taken place about fifteen years before his visit, i.e. about 1816. He also mentions 
 
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EXCURSIONS IN THE ENVIRONS. 
 
 171 
 
 treasures are common among the Burmese j* but what Captain Cox tells us of them from 
 personal observation is not confirmatory of these rumours. He speaks of plated models of 
 kyoungs and pagodas ; of others, said to be of solid gold, but which on examination proved 
 " to be less valuable ;" of marble images, trumpery gems, slabs of coloured glass, white 
 umbrellas, and, last of all, of a soda-water machine,^ as among the consecrated valuables. 
 
 Overlooking the river, in front of the eastern face of the temple, stood two colossal 
 leogryphs in brick. The heads and shoulders lie in shapeless masses round about, and 
 only the huge haunches and tails remain in position, gigantically ludicrous. These 
 figures were oi'iginally 95 feet high, as Cox tells us, and each of the white marble eyeballs, 
 intended for the monsters, measured 13 feet in circumference. J 
 
 North of the temple, on a low circular terrace, stands the biggest bell in Burma ; the 
 biggest in the world probably, Russia apart. It is slung on a triple beam of great size, 
 cased and hooped with metal ; this beam resting on two piers of brickwork, enclosing 
 massive frames of teak. The bell does not now swing free. The supports were so much 
 shaken by the earthquake, that it was found necessary to put props under the bell, con- 
 sisting of blocks of wood carved into grotesque figures. Of course no tone can now be got 
 out of it. But at any time it must have required a battering-ram to elicit its music. 
 
 Small ingots of silver (and some say pieces of gold) may still be traced, unmelted, in 
 the mass, and from the inside one sees the curious way in which the makers tried to 
 strengthen the parts which suspend it by dropping into the upper part of the mould iron 
 chains, round which the metal was rum 
 
 The Burmese report the bell to contain 555,555 viss of metal (about 900 tons). Its 
 principal dimensions are as follows ; — ft. in. 
 
 External diameter at the lip . ■. . . . .16 3 
 
 Internal diameter, 4 ft. 8 in. above the lip . . . .10 
 
 Interior height . . . . . , . . .116 
 
 Exterior ditto . . . . . . . . .12 
 
 Interior diameter at top ....... 8 6 
 
 The thickness of metal varies from six inches to twelve, and the actual weight of the 
 whole bell is, by a rough calculation, about eighty tons, or one-eleventh of the popular 
 estimate. According to Mr. Howard Malcolm, whose authority was probably Colonel 
 Burney, the weight is stated in the Royal Chronicle at 55,500 viss, or about ninety tons. 
 
 what escaped our observation, that the walls of the great cubical plinth appeared to have been banded 
 by lines of iron or copper chain. (MS. Journal.) 
 
 * The common tale goes, that 197 images of solid gold and silver, of Mentaragyi, his women, child- 
 ren, and relatives, each image being cast exactly of the weight of the person represented, were here 
 deposited. (The same.) 
 
 ■(■ " One of Dr. Priestley's machines for impregnating water with fixed air." (Cox's Journal of a 
 Residence in the Burmhan Empire, p. 110.) 
 
 % " The sockets for the eyeballs are left vacant, and to place the eyeballs in them will require some 
 exertion of mechanical ingenuity, which I should like to see." (Cox, p. 105.) The enterprise was 
 actually too much for the Burmese, as we learn from Col. Burney, who saw the figures in 1831, some 
 years before their destruction. The eyeballs had never been inserted. 
 
172 EXCUKSIONS IN THE ENVIRONS. 
 
 This statement* is probably therefore genuine, and the popular fable merely a multiplica- 
 tion of it by ten. 
 
 Still further north, there is an older pagoda of very peculiar character. The basement 
 which formed the bulk of the structure consisted of seven concentric circular terraces, 
 each with a parapet of a curious serpentine form. These parapets rose one above and 
 within the other, like the walls of Ecbatana as described by Herodotus. The only ascent 
 appeared to be from the east. In the parapet of every terrace were at intervals niches 
 looking outwards, in which were figures of ndts and warders in white marble, of half life- 
 size. A great circular wall inclosed the whole at some distance from the base.f It was 
 difficult to ascertain the nature of the central structure, so shattered was it by the earth- 
 quake. The whole (though round instead of square in plan) had a great general resem- 
 blance to the large ancient pyramidal temple in Java called Boro Buddoiyf as described by 
 Raffles and Crawfurd ; but this Mengoon structure was not, I think, very old, and I doubt 
 if the resemblance was more than accidental. At the foot of the hills, some hundred yards 
 to the westward, there was another pagoda of similar character, which we did not visit 
 And on the north side, in the direction of the great bell, there was a row of some forty or 
 fifty life-size female figures, carved in wood and dressed in tiaras and scalloped robes, like 
 the images into which the heads of posts are often hewn in bridges and the environs of 
 pagodas. 
 
 At Mengoon (which means "the rustic," or temporary "palace,") the old King had a 
 palace, where he was residing during Cox's visit, and during Colonel Symes's second 
 mission in 1802. The latter was detained for forty days, totally unnoticed by the court, at 
 an island on which corpses were burnt and criminals executed ! 
 
 Leaving Mengoon we continued to track along the western shore till night-fall. The 
 Sagain hills, now fallen off in height to some three or four hundred feet at most, but better 
 clothed with wood or scrub, continued to hug the shore. They left no space for cultiva- 
 tion, but several villages occupied the bights. These seemed to be principally inhabited 
 either by lime-burners, as at Oung-ta-zen and Kokogyoon, or by fishermen. The canoes 
 of the latter were provided with a complicated leverage of long bamboo spars for dropping 
 and raising the net At the other side of the boat this was balanced by a very prominent 
 
 * This monster Burmese bell is therefore fourteen times as heavy as the great bell of St. Paul's, but 
 only one-third of that given by the Empress Anne to the Cathedral of Moscow. (See Pen. Cyc. Art. 
 Bell.) 
 
 t Perhaps this structure is symbolical of the great cosmical mountain Myen-mo (Maha-Meru), sur- 
 rounded by its seven concentric and graduated ranges, in the centre of this Sakwala or mundane 
 system, which again is encompassed by a circular wall of rock called the Sahwala-gala. (See Hardy's 
 Manual of Buddhism, ch. i.) One of the Burmese feasts at the termination of their Wa or Lent is 
 called Tsee-mee-myer^mo, or Myen-mo lamplights. The streets are illuminated, and in them are exhi- 
 bited high round structures to represent mount Myen-mo, covered with little figures of its spiritual 
 inhabitants. (Burney's MS.) 
 
 X The Javanese structure, however, may also have been intended to symbolize Mount Meru and its 
 encircling ranges, for these appear to be sometimes represented as square in plan, excepting the outer 
 ring fence. (See a plate of Cosmogonia Indo-Tibctann, from a Tibetan picture, in Musei Borgiani 
 Codices Avenses, Peguani, &c, by Father Paulinus a Sto. Bartholomaeo, Rome, 1793, p. 231.) 
 
EXCURSIONS IN THE ENVIRONS. 173 
 
 triangular outrigger of the same material. We moored for the night at Tseng-gan, a 
 village with several handsome pagodas and theins. Next morning, continuing still to pass 
 up the now woody tail of the Sagain range for several miles, we then struck across the 
 Irawadi to the mouth of the river of Madeya, a tributary from the Shan hills. 
 
 The western part of the river channel here is occupied by numerous islands. These 
 afford grazing to the King's elephants, When arranging for our little voyage we had 
 intimated to the Burmese our wish to visit Madeya. Our real object was to see the 
 quarries of the celebrated white Ava marble, and we had been misled by Pemberton's map 
 into supposing that these quarries were close to the town of Madeya, and that our way to 
 them would lie through the latter. On this account the authorities at the court had pro- 
 vided us with a companion in the shape of a Bo, or officer, belonging to Madeya, in 
 addition to the Bo of Male, who was appointed to conduct Mr. Oldham to the coal-mines. 
 
 The Bo also maintained (falsely as we found) that the quarries were quite near his 
 town, and that we could easily visit both, and return to our boat by nightfall. Some of 
 the boatmen indeed spoke of a much nearer road from a village called Mawe, on the banks 
 of the Great River. This road the Bo asserted to be quite impassable at the present 
 season. 
 
 From a little village called Powa, at the mouth of the Madeya River, we obtained a 
 canoe, with mats to protect us from the powerful sun. We ascended in the canoe only 
 about two miles to Myit-thein. Here, where a branch of the Madeya river struck off 
 southward, the Bo provided us with ponies. Passing through several populous villages on 
 the banks of the Madeya-khyong,* we then struck into a great expanse of rice-fields, of 
 which there was a more extensive series here than we had seen since leaving Lower Pegu. 
 The people were now transplanting the rice, which appears here not to be done till the 
 waters have somewhat subsided. Our ponies picked their way marvellously along the 
 slippery and narrow ridges between the rice-fields, but had occasionally to plunge into the 
 Serbonian bogs on each side. The line of villages appeared almost continuous on our left, 
 till lost in the great mass of gardens round Madeya Myo. This we entered, after riding 
 about four miles from Myit-thein. Never, even in Penang, or in the glorious orange 
 valleys of the Sylhet mountains, have I seen a denser mass of productive trees than this, 
 which seemed to stretch for a length of three or four miles by perhaps one mile in width. 
 It was a perfect forest of cocoa-nut and areca palms, jacks, custard-apples, citrons, betel- 
 vines, &c, whilst the ground was covered with dense thicket, or swamped in water. 
 
 This is what the Burmese call a garden. They do not seem often to have the thing 
 which is properly so called, f This one supplies the capital largely with its productions, 
 especially with cocoa-nuts and areca. 
 
 For a mile or more the road through this dense and fruitful thicket was paved with 
 brick, and had brick parapets on either side. Kyoungs and houses began to be scattered 
 
 * Khyong or hhyong, a small river. 
 
 ■f- In 1835, however, Mr. Malcolm describes handsome ornamental gardens at Ava, belonging to the 
 then Prince of Tharawadi, and others. Amarapoora has not, it may be supposed, recovered from the 
 revolution sufficiently to possess such embellishments. 
 
m 
 
 EXCURSIONS IN THE ENVIRONS. 
 
 more and more frequently among the foliage, till, passing by a wooden bridge over a fine 
 full stream flowing rapidly to the south, we entered the town. This river, called the 
 Shwe-ta Khyong, breaks off above the town from the Madeya river by which we had 
 ascended from the Irawadi. It discharges itself into that creek or channel of the Great 
 River which passes near the Aracan temple, and washes the north-eastern corner of the 
 capital. The valley of the Madeya Khyong is said to extend back nearly to the Ruby-mine 
 district The town of Madeya seemed to be a large and populous place for Burma, and 
 our conductor's estimate of the number of houses at 3000 by no means overstated. Our 
 Bo led us to the Governor's house, where we were pressed to alight. Not wishing to be 
 uncivil, though unwilling to delay, we alighted and seated ourselves on carpets that had 
 been spread for us on a reception-shed. When we at once began to talk about the marble 
 quarries, our friend's whole story was changed ; all that he had said before was absolutely 
 ignored ; and he now declared it to be impossible to visit them, unless we stayed a couple 
 of days. Making a little inquiry from others of the people, we speedily saw, first, that our 
 Bo-Men had lied recklessly ; secondly, that he knew nothing about the marble quarries 
 or the way to them ; and thirdly, that the way was not by Madeya. So we determined to 
 return. We first walked out to the northward of the town to fix its position. Small 
 monasteries and pagodas (many of which showed traces of the earthquake of 1839) were so 
 numerous that we had to go to a considerable distance before we could get sight of any 
 known points. 
 
 Returning to the Governor's house we obtained fresh ponies and mounted. An attempt 
 was made, in the true official Burman spirit of discourtesy to foreigners, to prevent our 
 mounting inside the yard,* but unsuccessfully. We splashed our way back through the 
 mire again, and reached our boats on the Irawadi by nightfall. 
 
 As far as we could understand or learn the motives of our conductor's untruthfulness, 
 the benefit which he looked to from our visit, and which would have been enhanced had 
 we remained at Madeya, was the excuse that it would have afforded him for levying a 
 contribution on the townspeople. At frequent intervals along the road we had found 
 guards turned out to receive us. The number of muskets altogether we estimated at about 
 two hundred, including a rack of seventy-five in the Governor's house. Many of these 
 militia, however, had only spears and dhas, the majority of the district muskets having 
 been probably at our residency, where the regiment on duty was composed of men from 
 Madeya.f 
 
 Starting at dawn next morning (23rd September) we passed up the east bank, and 
 striking into a large channel which diverges considerably to the eastward we landed about 
 
 * It is always one of the questions of Burman etiquette whether you are great man enough to be 
 allowed, in paying a visit, to ride your horse inside the gate, or must dismount outside. 
 
 t Col. (then Captain) Hannay in his MS. journal of a journey to the upper Irawadi in 1835-36 men- 
 tioned that in a village called Tsa-khyet, in the Madeya district, there are people called the King's 
 gunners, among whom there were said to be several with light hair and eyes. Col. Buruey had heard 
 that there were persons of European descent in this neighbourhood, which led to Captain Hannay's 
 inquiries. 
 
 Unfortunately, we were not aware of this interesting fact when we made this excursion. 
 
EXCLUSIONS IN THE ENVIRONS. 175 
 
 eight o'clock at the village of Mawe, at the mouth of Khyong Ma-gyi, a considerable 
 stream about 150 feet in width, running down from the eastern mountains. We now saw 
 clearly our mistake in going to Madeya. ; the triple hill on which the marble is found being 
 only a couple of miles in a straight line from Mawe. Our path, however, was much 
 longer, and we had a hot walk along the ridges of the paddy-fields. An hour and a quarter 
 of such walking brought us to the little village of Kamagoong, nestled in a little hollow on 
 the south side of the hill. 
 
 Immediately behind the village rose the eastern slope of the Marble-Hill, standing up 
 at an angle of 30° or 35° to a height of 600 feet, and dropping steeply, almost precipitously, 
 on the west side down into the rice-swamps. Down the bushy eastern slope seemed to 
 pour the white streams of the marble debris. Eastward a tract of slightly elevated ground 
 joined this almost isolated group of hills to the base of the Shan mountains, eight or ten 
 miles distant; and in the hollow beyond this rising ground to the northward lay a compact 
 and pleasant-looking town, called Tsagyin, from which the hill is named. 
 
 Even here, at Kamagoong, they had somehow heard of our coming, and in the village 
 zayat we found a guard prepared to receive us. Four or five had fire-arms, as many 
 more had spears, or old bayonets lashed to bamboos. The men came from the neigh- 
 bouring town just mentioned. 
 
 The ascent was steep, and in the sun the glare from the stream-like trains of white 
 marble chips and blocks dazzled the eyes like the Himalayan snows. It was not without 
 difficulty that we could get one of the lazy Burman villagers to accompany us to the top as 
 cicerone. But neither he nor any now in the village were workers in the quarries. These, 
 as we understood, came from Sagain during the dry weather, and paid a tax to the King 
 for the privilege of working and carrying away the marble. This is found on the slanting 
 face of the hill, and the quarrying process consists merely in splitting away blocks from the 
 rock where it crops out on the surface- Excavation is attempted to a very trifling 
 extent only. 
 
 On the top of the hill stands a small ruined pagoda, and it is characteristic of the entire 
 disuse of stone for building by the Burmese, that with the splendid material at hand they 
 had nevertheless built this pagoda of brick, which must have been brought up in many a 
 weary load from below. 
 
 The view was very extensive. At our feet, and southward, stretched a great tract of 
 green rice cultivation ; but it surprised us to see how very few the villagers were, even in 
 this rich plain, and how much of the apparent level in other directions was quite unculti- 
 vated. Northward, that channel of the Irawadi by which we had ascended to Mawe 
 was seen winding as far as the eye could distinguish, and separated from the main stream, 
 which continued to hug the high ground on the west, by a wide tract of alluvial islands and 
 interlacing creeks. But the finest feature in the whole panorama continued to be the 
 broken, Gibraltar-like ridge of the Mya-leit-doung, nearly eastward from the capital. 
 
 On coming down from the mountain we found our deceitful Madeya Bo had actually 
 followed us, and as he had brought ponies with him he was not unwelcome. We returned 
 to Mawe and continued our voyage. The marble is chiefly carried off to Amarapoora and 
 
1 76 EXC0BSIONS IN THE ENVIRONS. 
 
 Sagain for conversion into images. Another purpose for which it is used is the manufac- 
 ture of ten-viss weights. These are hemispherical blocks, usually ornamented with radi- 
 ating flutes or grooves. A number of them were lying half finished at Mawe. For these 
 half a tikal was charged. For the finished weight from two to three tikals. 
 
 The eastern channel by which we were now ascending bears the name of Mawe 1 Mhit, or 
 Serpent River, which its windings justify. 
 
 We did not reach its bifurcation from the main stream till considerably past noon next 
 day (24th). The cause of this bifurcation is probably the rocky castle-like hill called 
 Ket-then-doung, which rises like an island from the alluvial plain, and acts as a partiteur to 
 the flood waters. 
 
 This eminence is about 180 feet in height, and as might be expected, its summit is 
 crowded with pagodas, flagstaves, and other emblems of Burman devotion. A village of 
 the same name, containing some 250 houses, descends to the shore of the Mawe Mhit. In 
 the street-stalls of the village we saw rude imitations of English scissors, steatite pencils, 
 zigzag crackers, the usual weights in the form of the Henza bird, &c. 
 
 Two miles above, where we re-entered the main river, we reached the town of Tsengoo, 
 from which I intended to return next day to Amarapoora. It was a pretty secluded spot. 
 A dyke of greenstone rose at several points along the shore in rudely columnar blocks, 
 crowned with pagodas and wooden zayats and monastic buildings, whilst very noble peepul 
 trees (which, perhaps slightly differing in species, have here a freer and grander growth 
 than is common in India) shaded the green bays between those rocky eminences. 
 
 The village is a considerable one, numbering three or four hundred houses, but is 
 intensely quiet and rural, buried in the abundant shade of noble trees, and without even a 
 bazar, a thing which we find in much smaller places. It is a Myo, the proper application 
 of which is to a place which is, or has been, walled, and the remains of the ramparts still 
 exist, far exceeding the shrunken dimensions of the town. Tsengoo is the seat of a Tseet-ke 
 or judge, as well as of a Myo-thoogyi or mayor, and of a Myo-woon or governor ; the 
 last non-resident. 
 
 Having intimated to the Bo my intention of returning very early in the morning, he 
 begged I would stay to breakfast at Tseengoo, and, by way of inducement, sent to say that 
 the gentlemen would surely visit the cave of Oungmeng and the Shwe Male pagoda. Not 
 having heard of this cave before, and having no reason to think highly of the Bo's veracity, 
 we were disposed to think he might have invented it for the nonce. However, the vil- 
 lagers assured us that there was such a cave in the skirt of the hills, seven or eight miles 
 distant, much frequented by holiday pilgrims at certain seasons. Presently the Bo himself 
 came to press his point. But when he found that if we should decide on going to the cave 
 we desired to have the pleasure of his company, he immediately began to take the obstruc- 
 tive part, and to show excellent cause why we should never be able to accomplish the trip 
 in one clay. 
 
 25th September. — The Bo, bongrd malgri, had provided ponies for us, and we got off soon 
 after six, which was marvellously early for Burma. Our road lay at first through flooded 
 hollows, and then through dry and pleasant lanes, amid jungle of crooked bamboos, jujube, 
 
EXCURSIONS IN THE ENVIRONS. 177 
 
 acacia, and other trees. Only one teak-tree we saw, not a very large specimen of its kind, 
 but rich in gigantic leaves and hanging blossoms. We passed two villages, Kyou-beng and 
 Di-ga, surrounded by fields of tall Indian corn. In these we noticed a new and elaborate 
 ■apparatus for scaring birds. A split bamboo, having the two halves kept apart by a short 
 horizontal pin, was stuck in the ground. On the pin another long bamboo rested slanting. 
 These were planted at intervals all over the field, and strings from the slanting bamboo 
 passed over the tops of fixed poles, and concentrated in the elevated lodge of the boy- 
 watcher, who tugged at them in succession, so that the clattering noise of the bamboo, 
 rising and falling again in the split, gave the depredators no repose. 
 
 At these little villages, as well as at occasional zayats by the roadside, we found, as 
 usual, the militia turned out to receive us, in parties varying from six or eight to fifteen 
 or twenty, and armed with spears and dhas, and a few old muskets. The last two miles of 
 our road lay much in rice-swamp, or along the muddy douls* between the fields. Nearly 
 eight miles from Tsengoo, crossing the Male Khyong, a clear mountain stream, we soon 
 reach the village of Male, consisting of 100 or 150 houses at the mouth of a valley running 
 some miles up into the hills. Up this valley runs one road to the forbidden district of the 
 Ruby-mines. A gay group of temples crowned the termination of a jutting spur above us, 
 up which we mounted by a paved and parapetted sloping ascent. We were here in a bight 
 of the mountains, which limited our view. The land between us and the Irawadi showed 
 extensive patches of rice cultivation, but the few villages were scarcely visible among the 
 trees, and Tsengoo-myo was only to be recognised by one or two pagoda tops among the 
 mango groves. The lands near the Male were irrigated by artificial cuts from the river. 
 
 Descending behind the temples we walked a mile, by a path through meagre forest, to 
 the cave, which is situated on the neck joining the spur on which the pagodas stand to the 
 hills behind. Having reached the entrance we sat down awhile, whilst the guides manu- 
 factured torches of dry bamboo fasces. 
 
 The descents to the cave are two, both by ladders. By one of these, and by a short 
 sloping passage, descending to a depth of five-and-twenty feet or so from the entrance, we 
 found ourselves in a hall of considerable size and some forty or forty-five feet in height. 
 We then turned aside into a narrow closet, where the suffocating smoke of the bamboo 
 torches almost made us give up the undertaking, ascended another ladder, went on our 
 hands and knees to traverse a low passage, crossed a chasm on ricketty poles, and then 
 through another contracted passage emerged on a second considerable chamber. There 
 were some large sheets of stalactite here, and masses of stalagmite, but the limestone did 
 not appear to be of a kind to form stalactite freely, and the usual icicles and fanciful pin- 
 nacles and mouldings of a limestone cavern were almost awanting. In some natural stalac- 
 titic niches at one end of the chamber were enshrined a few small gilt Gautamas, and before 
 them hung a thick screen of pendant stalactite, which when beaten with a mallet gave forth 
 a dull drum-like sound, and supplied the place of the bell in Buddhistic places of worship. 
 
 We could not find or hear of any passage leading further. The whole extent of the 
 
 * Doid — (Hind.) The ridge or small embankment dividing fields. 
 
 A A 
 
 / 
 
178 EXCURSIONS IN THE ENVIRONS. 
 
 cavern was probably not more tban ninety or one hundred yards. We were not sorry to 
 have visited it, but the bamboo fasces which were used as torches were too green, and the 
 light was insufficient. One effect, however, was peculiarly grand, when from the inner 
 extremity of the great hall we saw the Burmans descending from the small crevice of day- 
 light into the darkness, bearing aloft their feeble torches. 
 
 When we asked jocularly, before entering the cave, whether there were any bilus there, 
 the people answered " No ; there is a Phya," (an image of the Buddha). The latter they 
 seemed to think a perfect antidote against the presence of evil beings. 
 
 Emerging from the cave, we descended the other side of the ridge and returned to 
 Male by a better road. At the zayat, the local authorities refreshed us kindly with weak 
 tea and fresh cocoa-nuts. The latter were particularly grateful to our smoked, parched, 
 and dusty throats. We were doubtless the first Englishmen who had ever been at Shwe 
 Male ; and considering that we had just been crawling on our hands and knees over a 
 flooring of bat's dung and old torch-ashes, I fear we did not give a very favourable im- 
 pression of our nation. 
 
 We returned to Tsengoo, and there parted with regret, as I did not consider it right 
 to be longer absent from the Envoy. Mr. Oldham continued to ascend the river. A few 
 notes of his voyage he has kindly enabled me to extract or abridge from his journal. 
 
 After passing Kule, a small village at the base of the little hill north of Tsengoo, the 
 character of the river changed materially. The banks were now on both sides steep, and. 
 wooded to the water's edge ; the river was well defined throughout, and no sandbanks or 
 islands broke up the channel. Though this was greatly in favour of the beauty of scenery, 
 it excluded good points for carrying on the survey.* 
 
 The same character marked the banks for many miles. Villages were few, there being 
 in fact no level ground for the people to take possession of. And what villages there were, 
 here and there, consisted of only a few houses. 
 
 About thirty miles above Tsengoo is Thika-dau, a small village of not more than eigh- 
 teen houses on the west bank, and exactly opposite to a small island in the stream, on which 
 is situated an old pagoda and some kyoungs, which occupy all its surface. The upper end 
 of the island is protected by large piles and a framework of timber, but even with this pre- 
 caution it appears to be gradually wearing away. Round about the pagoda on Thika-dau 
 island are some very good bells, not very large, but very well cast. Of these there are 
 seven, and they form very nearly a correctly attuned chime. In fact, a little filing from one 
 of them would put them in perfect tune. They are sufficiently near being in tune to give 
 by no means an unpleasing effect when struck in succession as chimes. " I heard several 
 
 * This is the lowest of those defiles or passes of the Irawadi which the Burmese call Kyouk-dwcn, 
 ("rock-pool"). The middle Kyouk-dwen is a short distance below Bam6 ; and the upper and most for- 
 midable is forty or fifty miles above Bam6, terminating ten miles below the junction of the Mogoung 
 river. The last defile is a remarkable one. The river contracts in some places to fifty yards (or even to 
 thirty, according to Hannay) ; and it is so deep that in places Dr. Bayfield is stated to have found no 
 bottom at forty fathoms. (?) When Drs. Griffith and Bayfield descended in April 1837, the river rose in 
 this pass ten feet in one night. (Griffith's Posthumous Papers, p. 94 ; Hannay's Journal as abovu) 
 
EXCURSIONS IN THE ENVIRONS. 179 
 
 times," says Mr. Oldham, " the visitors to the pagoda on the conclusion of their prayers 
 striking these bells, and fancy at once carried me back to England and its village chimes." 
 The curious narrative that follows I must also give in Mr. Oldham's own words. It 
 occurs in his account of his return voyage. 
 
 " Having gone over the little island, I returned to my boat, where a sight awaited me, 
 that I confess astonished me more than anything I have ever seen before. 
 
 " On nearing the island as we descended the river, the headman in the boat had com- 
 menced crying out tet-tet! tet-tet! as hard as he could, and on my asking him what he was 
 doing, he said he was calling the fish. My knowledge of Burmese did not allow me to ask 
 him farther particulars, and my interpreter was in the other boat, unwell. 
 
 " But, on my coming down to the boat again, I found it surrounded on both sides with 
 large fish, some three or four feet long ; a kind of blunt-nosed, broad-mouthed dog-fish. 
 Of these there were, I suppose, some fifty. In one group, which I studied more than the 
 others, there were ten. These were at one side of the boat, half their bodies, or nearly 
 half, protruded vertically from the water, their mouths all gaping wide. The men had 
 some of the rice prepared for their own dinners, and with this they were feeding them, 
 taking little pellets of rice, and throwing these down the throats of the fish. Each fish, as 
 he got something to eat, sunk, and having swallowed his portion, came back to the boat- 
 side for more. The men continued occasionally their cry of tet-tet-tet ! and, putting their 
 hands over the gunnel of the boat, stroked down the fish on the back, precisely as they 
 would stroke a dog. This I kept up for nearly half-an-hour, moving the boat slightly 
 about, and invariably the fish came at call, and were fed as before. The only effect which 
 the stroking down or patting on the back of the fish seemed to have, was to cause them to 
 gape still wider for their food. During March I am told there is a great festival here, and 
 it is a very common trick for the people to get some of the fish into the boat, and even to 
 gild their backs by attaching some gold leaf, as they do in the ordinary way to pagodas, &c. 
 On one of these fish, remains of the gilding were visible. I never was so amused or 
 astonished. I wished to have one of the fish to take away as a specimen, but the people 
 seemed to think it would be a kind of sacrilege, so I said nothing more on the point The 
 Phoongyis are in the habit of feeding them daily, I was informed. Their place of abode is 
 the deep pool formed at the back of the island, by the two currents meeting round its sides. 
 And it is, it appears, quite a sight, which the people from great distances come to see, as 
 well as to visit the Pagoda, which is said to be very ancient and much venerated." 
 
 On the east or left bank, immediately opposite, is the village of Yuwazo, consisting of 
 about twenty houses, and occupying a small strip of flat ground in front of the hills. 
 From this there is a direct road to the Ruby-mines, which the people told Mr. Oldham 
 (apparently with great exaggeration) were 15 days distant. The road passes up and down 
 all the minor ridges, and crosses near the highest point of the great range called Shwe-oo- 
 doung. * The mines are said to be 16 miles to the east of this range. 
 
 * I refer to Mr. Oldham's report for the information that he was able to collect about the Ruby- 
 mines. 
 
 Their locality is always called by the old travellers, " Kapelan," or " Capelangan ;" sometimes 
 
180 EXCURSIONS IN THE ENVIKON& 
 
 Gold is washed in the streams about here, and successfully ; but not with any system 
 or skill. Just as the people have leisure, they work for a few days. The pits are never 
 deeper than eight feet. 
 
 27th. Mr. Oldham visited the coal to the westward of the river in this neigh- 
 bourhood. An account of what he saw will be found in his Geological report, in the 
 Appendix. 
 
 "In returning," he says, "at about a mile from the coal, we came upon a large 
 hamadryad snake. One of the men had a double-barrelled gun, but when he attempted to 
 fire it (an old flint gun, carried, as usual among the Burmese, without priming) all the rest 
 cried to him to stop. I said, Shoot him ! but the snake looked at us, and glided away unhurt. 
 I asked why he did not shoot it. The reply was curious, as bearing out a statement in 
 Mason's Tenasserim, which I confess I did not credit before : * they said it would, if hurt, 
 turn after and chase them ; so it got off. It was about nine feet long." 
 
 On the 28th, two other sites of coal were visited. On the 29th, Mr. Oldham ascended 
 the river to Mn\6, the only large village met with since leaving Tsengoo. It is situated on 
 a bold rocky point, crowned with pagodas and some fine trees, and with the long lines of 
 houses stretching southward from the point. 
 
 Behind the pagodas are several kyoungs, pretty and well ornamented, though not of 
 great size. The village consists mainly of one long street. The houses are good, and the 
 people all look comfortable and well ofE There was no great evidence of trade, however, 
 excepting in tea, of which large quantities were lying before the houses, in the baskets in 
 which it had been brought across from the Shan-Paloung territory. This was all of the 
 kind they call wet tea. This is prepared subsequently by the Burmans themselves into 
 
 spoken of as a kingdom, sometimes as a city, or as a great mountain. The name is suggestive of the 
 Paloungs, a tribe inhabiting the hills immediately east of the mines. If one might hazard a further 
 suggestion, Kha, signifying river in the language of the adjoining Kakhyens, Kha-Paloun may have been 
 the name of the valley. The old Portuguese " Summary of Eastern Realms, Cities, and Peoples," trans- 
 lated in Ramusio (vol. i.), says that about Capelangan there are " molte terre habitate da gente non molto 
 domestica," a description applying strictly to the Kakhyens, if not to the more industrious Paloungs. 
 
 In the thirteenth century the Talain chronicles speak of a kingdom of "Kanpalane" to the north- 
 ward of the then kingdom of Martaban. (Mason's Natural Productions of Burma, p. 435.) But thia 
 can scarcely have been so far north as the Ruby-mine district. 
 
 * " The natives describe a venomous serpent that grows ten or twelve feet long, with a short blunt 
 head, a dilatable neck, thick trunk, and short tail. It is of a darker colour than the common cobra, 
 nearly black. I have never seen it, but the description given me accords so well with the generic charac- 
 ters of hamadryas, that it must be a species of that genus. ' The hamadryas,' says Dr. Cantor, ' is very 
 fierce, and is always ready not only to attack, but to pursue when opposed ;' this, too, is a conspicuous 
 trait in our Tenasserim serpent. An intelligent Burman told me that a friend of his one day stumbled 
 upon a nest of these serpents, and immediately retreated, but the old female gave chase. The man fled 
 with all speed over hill and dale, dingle and glade, and terror seemed to add wings to his flight, till 
 reaching a small river he plunged in, hoping he had then escaped his fiery enemy, but lo ! on reaching 
 the opposite bank, up reared the furious hamadryad, its dilate eyes glistening with rage, r6ady to bury 
 its fangs in his trembling body. In utter despair he bethought himself of his turban, and in a moment 
 dashed it upon the serpent, which darted upon it like lightning, and for some moments wrecked its ven- 
 geance in furious bites, after which it returned quietly to its former haunts." (Mason's Natural Pro- 
 ductions of Burma, p. 345.) 
 
EXCURSIONS IN THE ENVIRONS. 181 
 
 their pickled tea (hlapii), in the manner which has been before described. The infusion of 
 this wet tea is also used occasionally. 
 
 The women at Male were very decidedly taller than is usual ; probably two inches on 
 the average above the average height of other Burman women ; quite large-looking women, 
 and fairer too than common. The men did not appear taller or better made than usual, 
 but were perhaps, on the whole, a little fairer. But the great stature of the women was 
 strikingly remarkable.* 
 
 Looking eastward from Male over Tsan-pe-nago, there is a noble range of hills forming 
 the back-ground. These rise in bold and craggy peaks, and attain an elevation of 
 probably some 6000 feet. This is the range mentioned above under the name of 
 Shwe-oo-doung, and as being only 16 miles to the westward of the Ruby-mines. There is 
 a road from Tsan-pe-nago also ; very hilly doubtless, and very circuitous probably ; but still 
 it seemed scarcely possible that it should be more than seven or eight days' journey at most.f 
 
 Above Male the character of the river channel changes again, and resumes the same 
 wide, flat, and open aspect as between Tsengoo and Sagain. Numerous large sandy islands 
 and banks fill up the broad valley, and to the east the hills die away and recede from the 
 bank for miles. 
 
 On these noble hills, which divide the valley of the Irawadi from the Ruby-mine 
 district, the people of Male said that snow lay for five months in the year ; but that they 
 were only occasionally and unfrequently visible, from the constant fog and mist which hung 
 round them. 
 
 On the west bank beyond the broad bay just above Male, small hills come down to the. 
 river bank, and continue for many miles. These hills, called the Menwun-Toung, are 
 said by the people to be a continuation of the Sagain ridge. They are of no great height, 
 the most elevated point being probably not more than 600 feet above the river. 
 
 From Male, Mr. Oldham turned backwards to the capital. 
 
 30th. Mr. Oldham relates another instance of the obstructiveness and reckless inveracity 
 of Burman officials that occurred at Thika-dau on his descent. 
 
 " I had desired a man to be sent yesterday out to the coal-pits for specimens of coal, to 
 be ready for me on my arrival to-day. But on reaching Thika-dau, the Bo, or chief man, 
 said that the coal had not arrived ; the man was gone that morning, and would be back 
 presently; would I just sit down and wait awhile? he would be back immediately. I said 
 I would do no such thing; I would go straight on as I had intended, and would simply 
 report that he had not got me what I wanted. I got into the boat and ordered it to be 
 shoved off, when the coal appeared, carried down on a man's shoulders. • Oh,' I said, 
 
 * A little higher up the river, Colonel Hannay noticed that some of the young men and women were 
 remarkably good-looking, with quite a Hindoo caste of countenance, and fine white teeth, unusual in 
 Burma. They were, however, quite offended at the doubt intimated by Colonel Hannay's question as to 
 their Burman lineage. 
 
 f Three or four days' journey, Colonel Hannay gathered. But in that officer's journal a little further 
 on, it appears that the distance from Tagoung on the Irawadi to Momeit, the chief place of the Buby 
 district, was three or four days for a foot traveller, but ten days for a laden bullock. 
 
182 EXCURSIONS IN THE ENVIRONS. 
 
 * there is some coal, then !' • It is just this moment arrived/ said the Bo ; ' the man has 
 just come in.' I looked at it and said, ' Well, this is very extraordinary. It is only this 
 moment arrived, and we have just had an excessively heavy shower, yet the coal is quite 
 dryP This quite dumbfounded them, and they turned away, partly to laugh, partly 
 ashamed of being so easily caught in this barefaced lie. Here, as at Madeya and else- 
 where, I can only fancy that the object of the officers sent with us was simply to delay us 
 another day, to have an excuse for screwing some of the unfortunate villagers, under 
 pretence of the expense of supporting me." 
 
 Leaving Mr. Oldham, I take up my own narrative from our parting at Tsengoo, on 
 the 25th. In descending the river, I kept to the main channel of the Irawadi, instead of 
 following again the windings of the Mawe Mhit, by which we had come up. About sun- 
 set I stopped for half an hour at the contiguous large villages of Thezeik and Yuwa-thit 
 on the western bank, where some of my boatmen wished to call at their homes. Going 
 into the court-yard of a monastery, some of the younger monks asked me to go up-stairs, 
 and I was courteously received by a mild and well-mannered Poongyi. In answer to my 
 questions, he said there were thirty residents in the monastery, of whom ten were regular 
 monks called oupazen, and himself the superior, or Poongyi properly so called. 
 
 There were handsome cabinets of carved and gilt wood in the room before which we 
 sat ; and as he said they contained books, I asked to see them. Two that he showed me were 
 both, he said, in Pali. One was neatly and closely written with the style on palm leaves, 
 as usual. The other was written with a thick black gum on a gilt material, too thick for 
 palm leaf; ivory, probably. It was very richly gilt and ornamented, but the letters, 
 which were of the square form, were large and coarsely formed. Their books, it is scarcely 
 necessary to say, consist of an aggregation of long, narrow, loose leaves, packed between 
 two outer boards, and so tied in a bundle. These books measured about twenty inches in 
 length, by eight in depth, and four in thickness ; the last dimension being the width of the 
 page. They were carefully wrapped up in cloth, and tied with neat inscribed tapes of the 
 kind described in Chapter V. One of these in silk, which the old Poongyi with a little 
 pride said had been woven by the Rani of Mogoung, was exquisitely done. The Burmese 
 pay great reverence to their books, shikho-ing or making a salam to them, and look with 
 great horror at our irreverent treatment of books. To sit on a box of books they would 
 consider absolute profanation. 
 
 Night fell, but there was a glorious full moon, and we continued our voyage. A group 
 of temples called Shwe-doung-oo-mau, of which one was gilt, and the others bright with 
 whitewash, stood on a conical hill of a hundred and fifty feet high, forming a bold promon- 
 tory over the river, and attracted me to land. A long staircase, flanked all the way up by 
 lions, which gleamed white in the moonlight, ascended on the north side ; a sloping paved 
 path, covered in with a wooden awning, on the south. At the top was a double terrace, 
 with parapet, temples, sacred masts, &c, as usual. There was nothing remarkable in the 
 structure, but the pure white of the temples and parapets in that glorious moonlight, and 
 the great river of trembling silver below, made it a charming scene. The boatmen who 
 went up with me sat down before the Gautama, in a wooden shed, before the principal 
 
EXCURSIONS IN THE ENVIRONS. 183 
 
 pagoda, and recited their prayers. I was surprised to see that two of them were shaking 
 the while with suppressed laughter, which exploded very audibly as they rose to their feet. 
 It was something, they said, in the dilapidated raiment of the man in front of them that 
 took their humour so strongly. 
 
 These boatmen were willing, good-humoured fellows, and I liked them much better 
 than the Burmese officials. On Dugald Dalgetty's principles, they seemed to lose no 
 opportunity of laying in " provant." If we started betimes in the morning, they cooked 
 and ate before unmooring ; and if, as usual, we halted for our own breakfast about nine 
 o'clock, immediately their cooking-pot was again a-boiling.* 
 
 A mile below the Pagodas I reached Shem-pa-ga, or Shein-maga, where I stopped for 
 the night. 
 
 This is a large and busy village, containing, probably, six hundred houses, and having 
 a large bazaar. The people are much occupied with the trade in salt, made in the low 
 grounds behind the Sagain hills and away towards Mout-sho-bo,f in fishing, and in supply- 
 ing the capital with firewood. Shem-pa-ga, with En-doung, passed last night, and a few 
 other villages, forms a small district under a Bo. Captain Hannay mentions it twenty 
 years ago as assigned for the support of the Queen's palankeen bearers. Next evening 
 (26th) I reached the Residency. 
 
 On the 3rd October, with Major Allan, Dr. Forsyth, and Lieutenant Heathcote, I paid 
 a visit to the old capital, f The communication between our lake and the Myit-nge, by 
 which we had first arrived at the residency, had for some days been entirely stopped, and 
 we did not even pass through the Sagyeen-wa creek, which leads directly to the great river, 
 without grounding once or twice in the Zenobia's gig. The river rose several feet after 
 this, and did not sink quite so low again up to the date of our leaving. Sudden and 
 frequent fluctuations are characteristic of the Irawadi, which in this differs from the great 
 rivers of Gangetic India. 
 
 On our way down to Ava we halted to breakfast at the Shwe-khet-kya, or " descent of 
 the golden fowl," a cluster of pagodas on a high promontory over the river, the face of 
 which is revetted with a high wall. Here the river is hemmed into one distinct full channel 
 between two decided banks, and there are no islands. A little further down on the same 
 bank is the Shwe-kyet-yet, or " scratching of the golden fowl," (these names both refer to. 
 an uninteresting legend,) a large square pagoda on a hill top, which had been a very 
 prominent object from our anchorage at Sagain. On each of the four sides there is a 
 
 * Colonel Hannay says in his journal that he had noticed that whatever a Burman boatman eats in 
 addition to his rice is generally stolen. 
 
 t For an account of this salt manufacture, see Mr. Oldham's Geological Report in the Appendix. 
 
 % Ava, the state name of which is Ratuapoora, or Gem-City, is stated to have been founded a.d. 1364, 
 by Thado-men-bya, Prince of Tagoung, who mastered the kingdoms of Panya and Sagain, into which 
 the country was then divided. It continued to be usually the royal residence, with some intervals, till 
 the end of the last century. The first mention of Ava by any European traveller, so far as I can find, is 
 that by Nicolo di Conti, who was there about 1440. (Ramusio, i. 340.) 
 
 In 1526 the Shans of Monyin and Mogoung took the city, and overran the country, of which they 
 held possession till 1554. In that year the Toungoo King of Pegu, Tshen-byoo-mya yen ('Lord of 
 many white elephants') conquered Ava and destroyed the city. The King Nyoung-men-tara, who re- 
 
184 EXCURSIONS IN THE ENVIRONS. 
 
 handsome gable porch of gilt timber, with other similar, structures on the terrace,* the 
 pillars of which were gaily ornamented with bands of mosaic work in mirror, which had a 
 brilliant effect. The umbrellas, flagstaves, &c, the usual accompaniments of a pagoda, 
 were also of unusual splendour, and the images were gilt and set with coloured stones; 
 real or artificial, I cannot say. The ascent is by a long staircase, lined on each side with 
 pagodas and small kyoungs. 
 
 We spread our breakfast on a square table-like platform in a zayat, at the foot of the 
 Shwe-kyet-kya. As we were seated round this, many old women entered, bringing 
 with them baskets of plantains, &c, apparently their food for the day. They spread a mat 
 in front of our table with much care, but we did not comprehend what they intended, till 
 a youngish Poongyi entered and seated himself on the mat. We then began to entertain 
 the distressing suspicion that we had in our ignorance taken the reverend man's pulpit for our 
 pic-nic-table ! Carefully holding the peculiar talipat fan, which the priests carry on occa- 
 sions of duty, so as to screen the congregation from his view, he commenced reciting what 
 seemed to be a liturgic prayer. In this the women took part by regular responses, joining 
 their hands and bowing their heads towards him. It was interesting to see a fat little 
 three-year-old child trying to join his chubby hands and bow like his old grandmother. 
 After this had gone on for a short time, the Poongyi gave them a sermon or address, 
 delivered in a nasal monotone like all their recitations. He then rose and departed without 
 noticing us. The whole service did not occupy more than twenty minutes. This was the 
 third of the moon's quarters, each of which is a Sabbath or worship-day with a Burmese, 
 and these old ladies had probably come out from the city to make a day of it and enjoy a 
 religious holiday. f 
 
 established the city and kingdom, after the fall of Pegu, in 1601, appears to have been a natural son of 
 the conqueror. 
 
 Ava was taken again by the Peguers, during their short resumption of independence, in 1752. They 
 were speedily expelled by Alompra, but ho always resided at Mout-sho-bo ; and when Captain Baker 
 passed through Ava in 1755 there were not more than one thousand families in the city, and scarcely a 
 single building of importance. When Captain Alves arrived as Envoy in 1760, he found the King 
 Noung-dau-gyi, Alompra's eldest son and successor, at Sagain, besieging Ava which was in a state of 
 rebellion. On the accession of Tshen-byoo-yen in 1763, Ava was again made the royal seat. It was 
 abandoned on the foundation of Amarapoora in 1783, and re-occupied in 1823 by the King and Queen, 
 who entered in great state, accompanied by the white elephant, and by all the dignitaries of the Court, 
 and Governors and Tsaubwas of the provinces. Ava was again deserted in 1837 by Tharawadi, who had 
 vowed to make it a heap of ruins. (Burney, in Jour. Asiat. Soc. Ben. vols. v. 164, and vi. 121, &c. ; and 
 MS. Letter to Govt, dated 5th July, 1832 ; Sangcrmano, chap. viii. ; Dalrymple's Oriental Repertory, i." 
 170, &c. ; Sjmes's Embassy ; Judson's Life, i. 269.) 
 
 * Readers of this narrative are probably tired of pagodas before now. But in Burma people do get 
 very tired of pagodas, and the report would scarcely convey a just impression of the extent to which the 
 country is overlaid with them, if it did not communicate a little of the same feeling to the reader. 
 
 ■f These sermons are more properly perhaps recitations of passages in the Buddhist sacred writings. 
 The preacher is not necessarily a monk. Judson thus describes the discourse of a popular lay-preacher 
 at Rangoon : — "His subject was the conversion of the two prime disciples of Gautama, and their subse- 
 quent promotion and glory. His oratory I found to be entirely different from all that we call oratory. 
 At first he seemed dull, and monotonous ; but presently his soft and mellifluous tones win their way into 
 the heart, and lull the soul into that state of calmness and serenity, which to a Burman mind somewhat 
 resembles the boasted perfection of their saints of old." (Life, i. 169.) 
 
EXCURSIONS IN THE ENVIRONS. 
 
 185 
 
 We landed at the mouth of the Myit-nge, which is still the great boat-port of the 
 capital, and shows a very large collection of craft, larger than that at Aniarapoura. Some 
 of the hoats, or ships rather, must have heen close on 150 tons burden. The craft of all 
 sorts at the capital cities, exclusive of mere canoes, reached a number of some 1200. 
 
 Some distance up the Little River were lying the King's barges. One, now in decay, 
 was formed of a pair of twin boats, the prow and stem of each moulded as a griffin's head 
 and tail, with a high-spired pavilion on the platform. The other was a single broad boat, 
 with a similar pavilion highly carved, and, with the exception of the deck, entirely gilt. 
 
 There is a strip of tolerably thick population along the river, and a few detached groups 
 of cottages in the interior of the old city. But we saw no probability of the existence of a 
 population of 15,000, which Mr. Spears ascribed to old Ava. 
 
 The ramparts still stand, though in decay, and the greater part of the interior area is 
 a mere mass of tangled gardens and jungle. A few of the principal streets are still kept, 
 or keep themselves, clear of overgrowth, and the others are traceable as muddy lanes at 
 right angles to each other, but they are silent and untrodden. One large white modern 
 pagoda, built, or thoroughly repaired, since the earthquake, rises from the thick foliao-e> 
 near the west end of the river face, and is the chief mark of the site of the city to 
 voyagers on the river. It is surrounded by a very extensive cloister, having marble 
 Gautamas in niches ranged along it. 
 
 The river appears to be encroaching, and as the full sweep of its current from the 
 north strikes here, it is surprising that it has not encroached more rapidly. The site of the 
 Residency, long occupied by 
 the respected Colonel Henry 
 Burney, to whose MS. offi- 
 cial journals and published 
 papers I have been so re- 
 peatedly indebted for illus- 
 tration in the course of this 
 narrative, has been long swept 
 into the river. 
 
 Passing a wide ditch and 
 second wall, we entered the 
 inner city in which the Palace 
 stood. Little remains hut 
 the mere bases of numerous 
 buildings, and platforms of 
 brickwork. One high square 
 tower, or belvedere, stands 
 as the earthquake left it, 
 greatly out of the perpendi- ° tJJ ' 
 
 cular, and with the massive veranda pillars round its base staggering hither and thither, 
 or prostrate in great unbroken masses of brickwork, giving a forcible idea of the 
 
 B B 
 
186 EXCURSIONS IN THE ENVIRONS. 
 
 violence of the visitation. Near the Myit-nge is a high terrace, with a great cluster of 
 sacred buildings. Some of the chief of these, being of brickwork, are also shattered ruins. 
 Though evidently modern, some of them display neatly turned arches. The Burmans 
 have never really lost this art, though incapable of using it as their ancestors did, and 
 sometimes exhibiting a paltry sham arch under a wooden lintel, as if mistrusting their 
 powers of construction. 
 
 On the 8th October, after returning from the visit to the Palace which we paid on that 
 day, in the company of Dr. Forsyth and Mr. Oldham, I started on a short excursion to 
 the foot of the Shan Mountains, eastward of the city. 
 
 The Court had provided elephants to carry us, but not appreciating the quantity of 
 impedimenta in the shape of bedding, basins, clean linen, and cooking-pots, which an 
 Englishman feels constrained to carry about with him, even when roughing it to a certain 
 extent, we had some difficulty in getting our baggage provided for. Burmese elephants 
 are not equipped with a pad as in India, and the wretched little pannier-like howda, which 
 sits in unstable equipoise astride of the animal's spine, limits the bulk of their load to less 
 than half that of an Indian camel. 
 
 We did not get all arrangements made till nearly five o'clock, and then had some 
 difficulty in crossing the lake, which was barely fordable by elephants, the waters having 
 risen considerably in the last two days. The other branch of the lake, to the eastward of 
 the city, we passed by one of the massive dams which hold up its waters, and about two 
 miles further we halted for the night, at a dense cluster of trees and sacred buildings called 
 Toya-gyoung — the Jungle Monastery. 
 
 Next day we continued to travel eastward, through continuous rice-fields, or through 
 bushy lanes incredibly deep in mire. The whole country seemed cultivated, but villages 
 were less frequent than one might have expected. 
 
 In the afternoon, about twelve miles from the city, we emei'ged from bush and mire on 
 higher and drier ground, and reached the small village of Shan-yu-wa (" Shan village.") 
 Here we found a deep stream, about a hundred feet wide, the Nga-doung-gya, flowing out 
 of a large opening in the hills, which were now closing us in some miles to the north of our 
 position, and joining the Myit-nge a few hundred yards to the south. There was a hand- 
 some bridge, but the middle bay had been carried away, so that a passage would have 
 involved the unloading and reloading of the elephants. The hills, which were our object, 
 were still several miles distant, but as there was a very good timber zayat on a raised 
 terrace over against the bridge, and other smaller sheds for the people, we determined to 
 advance our bivouac no farther. 
 
 At the confluence of the two rivers, on a high bank over the water, we found a very 
 beautiful little hjoung, called Ka-woon, backed by a cluster of pagodas. The site would 
 have done credit to a company of Cistercians. It was most lovely as we saw it. The 
 noble peaked and rugged ridge of Mya-leit-doung, a promontory of the mountain range, 
 was half in purple shade, lialf glowing in golden green under the rays of the setting sun ; 
 to the eastward the shades were rapidly mounting over the long tabular slopes of the Shan 
 mountains ; jungle dotted with larger trees filled the flats that lay between these ranges. 
 
« . . < 
 
 € * t 
 
 ■•••: :«■ 
 
 « I * • • 
 
 << < t ' ' ' ' 
 
 - Il'f 
 
EXCCRSIONS IN THE ENVIRONS. 187 
 
 the alluvial strath, in fact (as it would be called in Scotland), of the Myit-nge, running in 
 a long bight among the hills. This river itself, flowing in a broad full stream, the bulk of 
 which surprised ns, formed nearly a right angle just below the monastery. A mile up the 
 valley sparkled the gilded pinnacles of the Shwe-zayan pagodas, backed by groves of tall 
 p almyras, the sure indication of life and population amid the wilderness. 
 
 Our own bivouac was scarcely less beautiful. The Myit-nge was invisible, but there 
 was the smaller river below us, the massive but interrupted bridge overshadowed by fine 
 spreading-topped acacias of a peculiarly ornamental species, two colossal leogryphs warding 
 the descent to the bridge, the picturesque zayiits, the elephants and wild-looking soldiers of 
 our escort in the foreground, the grand Mya-leit-doung, again in the middle distance, and 
 behind all the grey Shan hills, seen in fragments through the branches of the acacias. 
 
 October 10th. — In the morning we crossed the smaller river in a canoe, and walked 
 through plantain and mango orchards to Shwe-zayan, on the banks of the Myit-nge, about 
 a mil e distant. Here we had expected to get ponies to go on to the Mya-leit mountain 
 range,, which was our object ; but we had come without any official accompaniment on this 
 occasion, and the result was, that the people declared that there were no ponies in the 
 village, that the Thoogyi (head-man of the town) was gone away, and that we could not 
 even have a boat to cross the river ! Sending one of our people to seek for a boat, however, 
 we visited the temples, of which a cluster crowns an eminence over the river. One of 
 these, the Shwe-zayan, from which the village takes its name, is gilt. It is held in great 
 esteem, and a yearly pilgrimage is made to it by all the dignitaries of the court. Hence 
 the erection of the fine bridge at Shan-yuwa. There was nothing very remarkable about 
 the buildings, some of which exhibited traces of the great earthquake; but one or two con- 
 tained Burmese paintings, which are always more or less curious. 
 
 On the river-side there were many bullocks waiting to take loads of salt off into the 
 Paloung country, which is the hilly region adjoining the Ruby-mines. This salt, the 
 produce of the soil in the Sagain and Moutshobo districts, was packed in pairs of conical 
 panniers, like gigantic strawberry pottles, about three feet high, coated internally with clay, 
 and united by a small curved yoke to fit the bullock's back. These are the same baskets 
 in which the wet tea for pickling comes down from the Shan and Paloung country. Much 
 of it was lying at the landing-places, the baskets half- submerged in the river. At this 
 season the traffic to the city is conducted by water. 
 
 Our interpreter at last having returned with a boat and with a guide to accompany us 
 to the Mya-leit-doung, we crossed over to the small village of Mee-thuwe-bouk (charcoal- 
 burner's village) on the other side. The Myit-nge was here not less than three hundred 
 yards in width, and flowing with a deep, full uniform stream and strong current. It does 
 not, according to the people, vary nearly so much as the Irawadi, and should, from what 
 they said, be navigable for moderate-sized boats throughout the year. It is stated to con- 
 tinue navigable for four days above Shwe-zayan (probably about thirty miles), and then 
 to become rapid and rocky. The name of Myit-nge, or Little River, is evidently bestowed 
 in distinction from the Irawadi only. 
 
 Landing, we followed the river, which was bordered by a strip of sesamum cultivation, 
 
188 EXCURSIONS IN TI1E ENVIRONS. 
 
 for about a mile, and then struck into the jungle. The road we pursued was a cart-track, 
 followed by wood-cutters and charcoal-burners in the dry weather. As we advanced, it 
 became overgrown with long grass and thorns, not having been travelled over this season, 
 and at last we found it under water. We had lost the morning by the delays at Shw6- 
 zayim : the sun was now very powerful and the heat excessive. The Doctor, who suffered 
 most, turned back, whilst Mr. Oldham and I continued our journey through the half inun- 
 dated jungle to the spot on the east side of the ridge, which the guide pointed out as the 
 best for commencing to ascend the mountain. After climbing the steep and stony path, 
 apparently the shallow bed of a torrent, to a height of some three or four hundred feet, I 
 also became ill, and had reluctantly to abandon to my friend Mr. Oldham the honour of 
 ascending the Mya-leit-doung alone. 
 
 From the valley of the Myit-nge, along which we had walked, the forest obscures the. 
 view of this grand ridge. Were this fine alluvial cultivated, as it might be, the scene 
 would be magnificent. Up from the plain runs the steep dark-wooded talus of the hills ; 
 then they shoot aloft in huge precipices, broken and serrated at top into gaps and peaks, 
 one of the highest of which, a large tabular rock, assumes from below, and even as seen 
 from the city, exactly the aspect of the square watch-towers on the peaks of Aden ; on the 
 west the ridge sinks again in a rapid slope to the plains of Ava, the winding Myit-nge 
 ae;ain almost washing its base on that side as on this. 
 
 Mr. Oldham must describe for me the view from the summit of the ridge, the highest 
 point of which he estimated at about 1700 feet. " On reaching the top, nothing was to 
 be seen to the west but the long gorge and gap in the hill-side, densely clothed with small 
 timber. To the north the eye ranged over the great plain of the Irawadi, with a few 
 isolated hills starting out in the midst like islands in a great sea : and in the foreground 
 the grand northern peak of Mya-leit, said to be called Pya-goon, rose with its steep side 
 and broken outline in noble contrast to the flats beyond. Eastward the eye ranged over a 
 succession of hills rising with long slopes, and smooth and very curiously unbroken out- 
 line, one above the other. The gorge of the Myit-nge was at our feet, with its ruddy 
 stream flowing tranquilly between its dark and well-wooded banks. * * * 
 The hill at the top is a very broken and irregular ridge, composed entirely of limestone 
 rising in great rugged blocks, every crevice in which is filled with clusters of bamboos and 
 young trees. The surface of the limestone is, as usual, eaten away into the most rugged 
 and uneven surface. All the blocks are fallen and heaped together in the most inextricable 
 confusion. Amid all this the dip of the beds is traceable to the East at about 50° or 60°. 
 This dip, or rather the surface of the beds, evidently forms the slope of the hill on the 
 east. 
 
 " From the rugged top I had a good view of the capital lying in the flat below, and of 
 the Sagain hills, &c. These, which seemed so imposing from the Residency, here looked 
 to be little hillocks, scarcely recognisable as such. 
 
 " I was struck with the sharpness with which the hills rise from the flats. Up to the 
 very base of these hills the flat marshy rice country seems to spread, and then the hills rise 
 suddenly and rapidly, like those on the banks of a sea or lake." 
 
EXCURSIONS IN TIIE ENVIRONS. 
 
 189 
 
 1 1 tli. — Instead of retracing our weary way to the city through the paddy-fields and 
 mire, we succeeded in hiring a small skiff to take us down the Myit-nge. The voyage to 
 Amarapoora occupied seven hours. The river continued throughout our descent of almost 
 uniform width, winding considerably, with many noble trees upon the banks, and villages 
 pretty frequent, but none of large size. We landed only at one place, a handsome modern 
 kyoung. It was inhabited and complete, excepting the staircases of ornamented brickwork, 
 which are almost essential parts of a Burmese monastery. It had been built by a minister 
 of the ex-king. The revolution took place, the minister fell into obscurity, and the monks 
 were left without a staircase. 
 
 About four miles from the city we quitted the Myit-nge by a channel branching off on 
 the north bank. This brought us into the lake on which the Residency stands, at its 
 eastern extremity. 
 
 October \Qth. — Our last exploration of the environs of Amarapoora consisted in a visit 
 to the ancient Irrigation tank of Oung-ben-le. We went out by the causeway leading to 
 the Aracan temple, and then through a tract of partially inundated fields. There was little 
 rice in these, however — the rain having fallen very late, and the people not having been 
 prepared for it. About five miles from the city (but by a circuitous route) we reached 
 the embankment of the tank. It looks shallow, being almost entirely covered with lotuses 
 
 Fig. 30. 
 
 and other water-growth, so that the distant parts look like meadows, and thus the extent of 
 the lake is not discernible. It is, however, when full, not less than from six to eight miles 
 
190 EXCURSIONS IN TOE ENVIRONS. 
 
 long, by three in breadth at the lower end. A great part of it dries in the cold weather 
 and is then cultivated. The banks are planted with very fine acacias. The outlets for 
 irrigation are pretty numerous, and are both kucha and pukka, as we say in India, i. e. tem- 
 porary and permanent. The latter (the masonry outlets) are curious and characteristically 
 Burman, adorned with great snakes and monsters in brick-and-mortar sculpture. The 
 sluice-gate consists of separate vertical planks dropped between pairs of teak balks. These 
 planks are fitted with an iron eye at top, and above them a windlass or roller is supported 
 on a massive timber frame. A rope is passed over this windlass to heave the plank, but it 
 seemed to act merely as on a pulley ; there was no handspike or other leverage. 
 
 The one large sluice seems to have been found unmanageable, for outworks have been 
 built towards the lake with a greatly contracted opening, which was shut by a succession 
 of rough planks, one behind the other. The pressure is no doubt considerable, for the 
 water stood eight or nine feet above the country ; and this succession of sluice-planks may 
 have been meant to graduate it. 
 
 The rice-fields watered by this tank are called the Le-dau-gyee, or Great Royal Rice- 
 fields, and are in the King's own hands, the cultivators receiving a certain number of 
 baskets. But I believe the King does not anywhere take water-rent, though he has been 
 restoring and extending irrigation-works considerably since the loss of Pegu, especially in 
 the districts immediately south-east of Ava. The produce of Le-dau-gyee is said to be 
 200,000 baskets.* 
 
 The most elaborate sluice we saw was at the village of Oung-ben-le (" cocoa-tree rice- 
 field"). This is a small, poor hamlet, but its name has become known far and wide in 
 England and America, and may almost be said to have become a household word in the 
 annals of Christianity. Here, for the six latter months of the first Burmese war, was the 
 prison of the Christian captives ; and here, occupying " a little filthy room half full of 
 grain," in the hut of one of the gaolers, that saintly and heroic woman, Ann Judson, after 
 she had been through so many weary months a ministering angel, not only to her husband, 
 but to all his fellow-prisoners, nearly sank under the accumulated hardships and oppressions 
 which she had to bear from the rudest and most degraded of the Burmans ; and here, 
 during her illness, her husband, the Apostle of the Burman nations, was allowed, as a 
 favour purchased from their gaolers, with shackled feet to go about the village, carrying 
 his sickly child, " a beggar at the breasts of pitying mothers."f 
 
 To Oung-ben-le also the Burmese, true to their worship of precedent, carried the 
 Christian prisoners during the war of 1852. Though under the charge of the Lemaing- 
 
 * Burney. 
 
 t Wayland's Life of Judson, vol. i. I learn from Colonel Barney's Journal that, on his first coming 
 to Ava as Resident, he sought out the two officials who are mentioned by Mrs. Judson as having shown 
 kindness to herself and the other prisoners, Moung Shwe Loo, the Governor of the Northern Palace, and 
 Moung Youk Kyee, the Governor of the city, making the former a special complimentary visit, and thank- 
 ing the latter before the assembled courtiers, saying as publicly as possible that if that old man had done 
 what he was repeatedly desired to do, and had assassinated the prisoners, the English and Burmese never 
 could have been friends again, and the King's honour and character would have been irrecoverably de- 
 stroyed. He also obtained leave to make special presents to these two worthy men. 
 
EXCURSIONS IN THE ENVIRONS. 191 
 
 Woon,* Moung Gala, one of the greatest ruffians in the country, they met with far better 
 treatment than their predecessors. They were habitually allowed to walk out as far as the 
 lake, and although no provision was made for them by the Government they had credit 
 with the Chinese and others in the town, and never were very hard pressed for food. The 
 people of the country round about used to sell them beef, having most probably stolen the 
 cattle ; and good fish were brought daily for sale, though it is prohibited on pain of death 
 to fish in the lake. The party were kept at Oung-ben-le from the 1st of April, 1852, till 
 the general topsy-turvy during the revolution in the succeeding January, when their 
 gaolers fled from the advancing insurgents, and the prisoners dispersed to their dwelling in 
 the capital. 
 
 * The officer in charge of the royal rice-fields is so called. 
 
CHAPTER VII. 
 
 RETURN OF THE MISSION FROM THE CAPITAL TO RANGOON. 
 
 Our Treatment at the Capital — The Personal Character of the King — His kindly Intentions and Acts 
 — The Liberty we Enjoyed— Limit to our Intercourse with the People — The King's Character and 
 Popularity — The Crown-Prince — The King's Refusal of a Treaty — His Motives — Dread of Disad- 
 vantageous Appearance in History — Historical Nomenclature of the Burmese Kings — The Russian 
 War — Opening of Communication with France and America — The King's Steamer — His Wish for 
 an Anatomical Model — Our Departure (Oct. 22d) and Escort — The old Nan-ma-dau-Woon — The 
 Woondouk — Fall of the River — Nyoungoo and its Lacker Manufacture — The Shw6-zeegoong Pa- 
 goda — Pagan — Heavy Rain and Nocturnal Accident — Visit the Mud Volcanoes of Memboo — Arrive 
 at Menhla, and Farewell Party at the Governor's — Pass the Frontier — Short Notice of Mcaday and 
 Thayet-myo — Customs' Statistics at Thayet-myo — Reach Prome and Rangoon — Conclusion of the 
 Narrative. 
 
 There can be no doubt that our party, during its stay at the capital, as well as during 
 the voyage up the river, had been treated with greater consideration and with more of that 
 hospitable attention which Indian, as well as Western nations, consider due to the represen- 
 tatives of a foreign state, but which is altogether alien to the ancient principles and practice 
 of the Burmans and their allied races, than had been the fortune of any previous British 
 mission. This was partly due doubtless to the impression made by the results of the late 
 war, and partly to the esteem and respect in which Major Phayre, from his long and 
 thorough acquaintance with the character, manners, and literature of the Burmese, and his 
 considerate but firm conduct towards them, was held by the King and Ministers. But it 
 would be unjust to deny that it was also due in a great measure to the personal character 
 of the reigning Prince. Throughout our stay his demeanour was most kindly to the Envoy, 
 as well as to all the other members of the mission, when opportunity offered ; and I may say 
 with truth, that a kindly and respectful feeling towards the King was reciprocated by all 
 these officers. It was evident that every endeavour had been made to fit up the dwelling 
 prepared for us in such a way as he supposed woidd make us comfortable. Good bread 
 was provided for our use daily at the King's charges ; horses and elephants were furnished 
 for our use ; the amusements in which the people themselves delight were supplied only too 
 copiously for our taste ; and the King's care was not confined to the officers. The welfare 
 of the European soldiers was a frequent subject of the King's inquiry ; they were (with 
 the whole of our numerous retinue, indeed) provided entirely at his Majesty's expense ; of 
 the numerous dishes of Burmese sweetmeats, with fruits and other delicacies, which were 
 sent daily from the Palace to the Residency, a part was always destined expressly for the 
 
RETURN OF THE MISSION FROM THE CAPITAL TO RANGOON. 1 93 
 
 European soldiery ; and there was not an individual in the whole of our party of nearly five 
 hundred who was allowed to leave without some small present from the King in remem- 
 brance of his visit to Amarapoora.* From differences of taste, or from the apathy and 
 trickery inherent in petty officials, the King's kind intentions did not always take full effect. 
 But we could not be the less sensible that his intentions were really kind and hospitable. 
 
 If some of the excursions that we should have wished to make, such as a visit to the 
 Ruby-mine district, or to the city of Moutshobo, the cradle of the reigning dynasty, were 
 thwarted by excuses more or less plausible (always made to tara on the King's regard for 
 our comfort and safety), still the degree of liberty in this respect that was conceded to those 
 members of the mission who chose to take advantage of it was greater than could well have 
 been expected, especially if it be remarked that the objects of the mission, as partly one of 
 inquiry, had been previously trumpeted in the Calcutta newspapers, which are regularly 
 received by his Majesty, and gleaned for his benefit by the European or Armenian 
 frequenters of the Court. f Some of the officers spent days in wandering about the streets 
 of Amarapoora, and studying its peculiarities, without attendance, and without insult on 
 any occasion ; the use of surveying instruments was carried on without hindrance, resulting 
 in the completion of Major Allan's beautiful map of the capital and its environs ; and numer- 
 ous fossils were collected by the King's orders for Mr. Oldham's gratification. 
 
 With all these concessions there were, however, stringent limits to our intercourse with 
 the King's subjects. Scarcely a soul dared come to our residence, and so strict was the 
 watch kept on the few who did come, that not one of them probably escaped unmarked, 
 and some were known to be punished. This may have been the work of inferior officers, 
 but of the fact there is no doubt. 
 
 The King is, without doubt, a remarkable man for a Burman ; but rather in moral than 
 in intellectual character, though his intelligence, also, is above the average. For the first 
 time since the present dynasty acquired the throne, in 1752, if we may not say rather for 
 the first time in the whole history, the Sovereign of Burma is just and mild in temper, easy 
 of access, hears or seeks to hear everything for himself, is heartily desirous that his subjects 
 shall not be oppressed, and strives to secure their happiness. He is, in fact, as far as we 
 can judge, a man of conscience and principle. The very monopolies of trade which he has 
 established in his own behalf have been created with the intention (however short-sighted) 
 of securing a revenue without the infliction of taxation on his people. And if there is any 
 extravagance in his expenditure, it shows itself rather in the liberality of his gifts than in 
 selfish indulgences. 
 
 There can be no doubt of his personal popularity. The people speak in terms of ad- 
 
 * The day before we embarked, the King sent a silk putso and a Shan briquet for every soldier of the 
 escort ; and a small lackered box, a Shan jacket, or what-not, for every Indian servant and lascar. 
 
 t It is quite customary for Burmese Envoys to take copious notes of all the information they can 
 collect about the countries they visit. Examples of their Journals may be seen in Burney's account of 
 Burmese Embassies to China (Journal Asiatic Soc. Beng. vi. 405, et seq.) ; and in extracts from the 
 Journals kept by the Burmese Envoys to Bengal in 1831-33, given by the same author in Asiatic Re- 
 learches, xx. p. 184. 
 
 c c 
 
1 94 RETURN OF THE MISSION FROM THE CAPITAL TO RANGOON. 
 
 miration of his good qualities, and uniformly, and with apparent sincerity, declare that they 
 never had a King so just and so beneficent. The contrast with what they have known 
 heretofore, by experience or by tradition, must be powerful. 
 
 He is too sagacious to suppose that he can stand against the British power, and, as long 
 as he lives and reigns, peace will probably be maintained. But he does not the less con- 
 tinue to hanker after the province he has lost, and to listen eagerly to reports which hold 
 out a chance, however vague or distant, of his being able one day to recover it through 
 some disaster to the British power. The predominant influence formerly attributed to the 
 Ein-she-men, or Heir-apparent, no longer exists. He has the position which properly 
 belongs to his station, but nothing more. 
 
 It has been seen that his Majesty's prejudice against putting his name to a treaty proved 
 unconquerable. During the early part of our stay, when some preliminary communications 
 on the subject took place through Messrs. Spears and Camaretta, these gentlemen were 
 inclined to think the King not adverse to such a treaty as was proposed to him. But Major 
 Phayre's interview with him on the 21st September was the only occasion on which he 
 allowed the subject to be entered on with him personally, and then he adjourned the ques- 
 tion. And from this time he seemed to be making up his mind to a refusal. An interview 
 for the further consideration of the matter was constantly deferred, whilst his Majesty's 
 request, that the Envoy would not enter on the subject with the Woongyi, appeared 
 intended to reserve it for personal discussion with himself. To have disregarded the King's 
 request could not have inclined him to view the demand more favourably, but the Envoy's 
 compliance with it evidently perplexed the Minister, who expected him to bring forward the 
 subject during their conversation on the 4th October. On the 10th of that month the 
 King at length announced that he could not grant a private audience for the discussion of 
 the treaty, and referred the Envoy to the Woongyi. The result of their interviews on the 
 12th and 16th October has been related in the foregoing pages. 
 
 A variety of motives were probably acting on the King in his refusal to sign a treaty. 
 In the first place, there is not a doubt that he is keenly sensitive as to what may be written 
 of him in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Burma, and feels that his name might 
 be dishonoured if connected with the yielding of territory, even tacitly.* When he ordered 
 
 * The name of every Burman disappears when he gets a title of rank or office, and is heard no more. 
 And the name, properly speaking, of the reigning King seems to have no existence. He is The King ; 
 that is enough. Hence there is a sort of vagueness and want of definition, if I may so say, in speaking 
 of past Kings. I never could learn any name for the ex-King except that he was the Pagan-Men ; that 
 is to say, he was Prince of Pagan before he came to the throne. So with the King's father. We call him 
 King Tharawadi, because he was known as Prince of Tharawadi before he came to the throne. But this 
 is like calling AVilliam III. or IV. King Orange, or King Clarence. Hence the various Kings are known 
 in history, either by some vague sounding title which they assume on coming to the throne, like " Great 
 King of Righteousness," or " Lord of White Elephants,'' or by some nickname, derived from facts in 
 their history or personal relations, and applied after their death. Thus we have one late King always 
 spoken of as the " Grandfather King," a title which must have been given during the reign of his grand- 
 son, who succeeded him. This grandson is generally known as the Noung-dau-gyi, or Royal Elder Bro- 
 ther, because he was so called in the time of his younger brother, Tharawadi, who deposed him. At the 
 time of the French Revolution, in 1830, the Woongyis always spoke of Charles X. as " The King-set-up- 
 
RETURN OF THE MISSION FROM THE CAPITA! TO RANGOON. 195 
 
 a copy of the Royal History to be presented to the Envoy, the latter heard him give some 
 directions in an under-tone regarding the period up to which the history was to be given. 
 It proved to be brought no further than 1822, so that the narrative of his uncle's loss of 
 territory was not included. He, no doubt, considered that many chances might arise to 
 render a treaty avoidable. First, among these, came the war with Russia. He was told 
 by the Armenians, of whom some are bitter enemies to the British, and all hearty partizans 
 of the Czar, that the Russians are invincible, that they would certainly conquer India, and 
 that we should have to withdraw our troops from Pegu to resist them.* The Santal 
 insurrection, too, was (not unnaturally) made much of, and tended to strengthen the hope 
 that his opportunity was coming. The excuse, grounded on a professed hope that the new 
 Governor-general might grant better terms, Major Phayre considered to be rather a 
 clumsy device for procrastination, than a serious belief that such might really be the case. 
 The mission to the Emperor of the French, in 1856, was probably taken up in the idea 
 that the Emperor might influence the Queen of England in the King's favour; and 
 various articles from London papers are believed to have been represented to His Majesty 
 as indications that he is likely to meet with a more favourable hearing in England 
 than in India. 
 
 Very lately the King has also opened friendly communication with the United States, 
 by sending a letter to the President, in charge of the Rev. Mr. Kincaid, a well-known 
 American missionary. It is not very easy to see the object of this. I should incline to 
 think that it originated in the intelligent Monarch's eyes beginning to open to the real posi- 
 tion of Burma among the nations, and his consequent desire to introduce himself to notice 
 among those whom he sees to be really the important powers of the world. 
 
 At our last interview the King took care to express emphatically to the Envoy his 
 
 by-the-English." The King who built the temple of Dhamayangyi, at Pagan, is called " The-Dethroned- 
 by-Foreigners." One of the last Kings of Pagan is styled Taroup-pyc-men, " The King who fled from the 
 Chinese ;" a King of Toungoo who was taken prisoner by Philip de Brito de Nicote, about 1612, is Kala- 
 ya-men, "The King seized by the Kalas ;" and a King dethroned and drowned in the Kyendwen, in 
 1661, is called " The King thrown into the water." Now, perhaps, his present Majesty dreads going down 
 to posterity as a " Lackland," or " The King who signed away his realm." 
 
 The mode of historical nomenclature just alluded to has a close parallel among the islands of the 
 Archipelago ; the kings of Macassar are often designated in their records from the place or circum- 
 stances of death. One is the " Throat-cutter ;" a second, " He who ran a-muck ;" a third, " He who was 
 decapitated ; " a fourth, " He who was beat to death on his own staircase ;" and a fifth (as if it were rare), 
 " He who died reigning." (Crawfurd's Indian Archipelago, ii. 381.) 
 
 Similarly, De la Loubere says of the Siamese kings, " It is not easy to know the king's name ; they 
 carefully and superstitiously conceal it, for fear lest any enchantment should be made on his name. 
 And others report that their kings have no name till after their death, and that it is their successor 
 which names them." 
 
 * The following passage, written by Colonel Burney in 1830, might just as truly to the letter have 
 been written in 1855 : — ■ 
 
 " It is curious to know that the war between Turkey and Russia is a subject of very lively interest at 
 this capital. There is a very mischievous set of Moguls and natives of Hindustan here, who take every 
 opportunity of depreciating the English, and feeding the King's mind with idle hopes of our being on the 
 verge of destruction as a nation." — (MS. Journal.) 
 
196 RETURN OF THE MISSION FROM THE CAPITAL TO RANGOON. 
 
 desire for peace, and his anxiety that no outrages should occur on the border. * He made 
 no remark regarding commerce between the two countries, probably because (although he 
 is the principal merchant in the kingdom, and monopolizes all the staple exports), it is in 
 Burman estimation, or professed opinion, beneath the dignity of a government to regard 
 such peddling matters. 
 
 At the especial desire of the King, the Envoy consented to take down to Rangoon, for 
 repair, a small steamer which his Majesty had obtained from Calcutta after the close of the 
 war. We understood that he was very anxious to commission one or two steamers from 
 England through our Government. But after refusing the treaty, he probably did not 
 think the time favourable for making this request. He expressed a wish to have the model 
 of a human skeleton, of the natural size, executed in white wood, with pliable joints. It 
 will be seen from his Majesty's remarks to Dr. Forsyth during our audience on the 
 8 th October, that he is fond of dabbling in medical studies. 
 
 October 22d. — At seven this morning we started on our voyage down the river, accom- 
 panied as far as Kyouk-ta-loung by Father Abbona, Camaretta, Spears, old Mr. Makertich,f 
 the Woondouk, and the Nanmadau Phra Woon. The Myo-Woon of the city was also of 
 the party, by the King's command. The kindly old Nanmadau Phra Woon sat on deck 
 the greater part of the time, telling the beads of his little amber rosary, and repeating 
 unceasingly to himself the Pali words aneitta ! dokha ! anatta ! expressive of the transi- 
 tory, suffering, and unreal character of all sentient existence. 
 
 A dozen war-boats accompanied us, to escort us and convey the party back, so we 
 proceeded slowly. At Kyouk-ta-loung we anchored, to take on board a pilot, and to take 
 leave of our friends. The Envoy said they really were impressive in their farewell 
 speeches. The old Woon, wiping his eyes with his putso, declared that his wife and 
 himself were equally inconsolable for Major Phayre's departure. "I pray," said he, 
 " daily for the Governor-general, for His Majesty the King, for Commodore Lambert, and 
 for yourself, that you may all be exempt from the ninety-six diseases and the five enemies, 
 and from all evil whatsoever. I did so this veiy morning before daybreak, when leaving 
 home to come down to you. When I go back, their Majesties will ask, as they always do, 
 what you have been saying. What am I to reply?" 
 
 " That I am truly grateful," answered the Envoy, "for all the kindness that His Majesty 
 has shown to the mission." 
 
 The Woondouk then also made a friendly farewell (having presented each of his 
 acquaintances in the mission with a box of Burmese cheroots of portentous dimensions), 
 and requested the Envoy to write to him. The anchor was weighed, and we proceeded on 
 our downward voyage. 
 
 The fall of the river had caused a considerable difference in the appearance of the 
 
 * Such outrages had been rather frequent during the preceding year and a half. Villages had been 
 plundered and the people driven off into the King's territory, and Major Allan's party, engaged in laying 
 down the boundary, had been fired on, and an officer killed. 
 
 f Not the Kala Woon, but an Armenian merchant, more respected, I believe, than any of his country- 
 men at Amarapoora. The other Makertich accompanied the flotilla in his own boat. 
 
RETURN OF THE MISSION FROM THE CAPITAL TO RANGOON. 197 
 
 country. Islands and high banks now rose, where on our upward voyage trees and houses 
 were half submerged. The channel, however, was now better defined, and the country 
 altogether looked better, more green and fresh. 
 
 October 23d, — About nine this morning we were off the town of Nyoungoo,* at the 
 northern end of the Pagan remains. A party landed to visit the lackered-ware manufactory 
 for which the place is noted, intending to follow the steamer to Pagan by land. I was 
 suffering from fever, and could not join them ; but I am indebted to Mr. Oldham for some 
 notes of what they saw. 
 
 They visited the manufacture of lackered boxes, and saw many of the processes in 
 actual operation. 
 
 In one corner of the house, men and women were busy, either splitting and cleaning 
 the bamboos, or weaving them into little basket-like boxes, forming them all of assorted 
 sizes, on regular mandrils of wood. These are then passed on to others, who smear 
 them over with well-tempered mud, mixed (in the better class of boxes, but not in the 
 coarser) with a little iliitsi, the black varnish which they use so abundantly, f These are 
 put out to dry in the sun, and, when dry, are again chucked, or put on the lathe, and 
 polished down to a smooth surface by the use of bits of soft earthy sandstone and water.J 
 After thorough drying again, they are coated with a mixture of the ashes of burnt bones 
 and thitsi, and rubbed down again. Next they receive another coating of the same compo- 
 sition, in which the tliilsi is mixed in somewhat larger proportion, and again they are 
 smoothed down. Thitsi alone is then put on and polished. The box has now a smooth and 
 brilliant black surface, and is in a sense complete. The subsequent processes vary with 
 the pattern and the colour that may be desired. For instance, the ordinary kind, in which 
 the prevailing colour is red with black markings, is produced in an extremely simple but 
 most ingenious way. The bands or lines passing round the box are laid on in the thitsi by 
 a kind of style or point, fixed in a bit of wood or bamboo, and projecting from it a little. 
 This point being charged with the thitsi, the box is put on the lathe, and the bamboo held 
 firmly with the hand against the end, with the point on the proper line.§ The box being 
 now turned, a line of the black varnish raised slightly from the general surface is thus laid 
 on. When all the required lines have been thus drawn, the box is entirely covered with a 
 coating of red paint, made of vermilion ground, with a peculiar oil. [| This is not laid on 
 very thickly, but sufficiently to conceal all the black varnish below. When this coating is 
 dry, the box is again chucked on the lathe, and the workman, taking a handful of the 
 husks of rice and a little water, applies them firmly to the surface, causing the box at the 
 same time to revolve rapidly. This friction rubs off all the red paint from every point 
 which projects in the slightest degree from the general surface. By this means the black 
 
 * " Peepul-tree point." 
 
 f The substratum in the coarsest and cheapest boxes is sometimes of mud and cow-dung only. 
 { Sometimes with powder of fossil wood, as the marble idols are polished. 
 § Some workmen dispense with the lathe, using the knee and left hand to turn the box. 
 || Called Shan oil, because made by that people. It is said to be made from the fruit of the wood-oil 
 tree, a species of dipterocarpus. 
 
1 98 RETURN OF THE MISSION FROM THE CAPITAL TO RANGOON. 
 
 lines on the box are rendered clear and continuous, and over the general surface a peculiar 
 small chequer-work pattern is produced iyf the slightly projecting edges of the bamboo in 
 the plaited work of the original basket. 
 
 If carried too far, this pattern is injured by the display of too much of the black 
 surface, and if insufficiently done, the mottling becomes irregular and indefinite. But 
 practice makes *t he workmen very expert, and the rapidity with which the boxes are 
 chucked, polished off, and removed to dry, is perfectly surprising. In every house several 
 of these lathes are at the same time carrying on different stages of the work. 
 
 When more colours are to be used they are successively applied, and subsequently 
 removed down to the bjack by which the pattern is produced. This is done by a steel 
 style, pointed at one end, and slightly flattened at the other. This portion of the coloured 
 layer to be removed is marked round by an incised line, and then lifted off by the flat end 
 of the style. In this way the most elaborate patterns are produced, and in no case is any 
 preliminary sketching or drawing used. "When the surface is partitioned into regular 
 divisions or panels, these are measured off and rudely marked, but the whole of the 
 detail is put in without any first outline or drawing, and without any pattern to copy. 
 
 The same designs are repeated again and again, and handed down traditionally from 
 generation to generation. Any difference in execution arises, of course, from the superior 
 skill of the workman.* 
 
 Having seen this interesting manufacture, the party proceeded to visit the Shwe- 
 Zeegoong Pagoda, close by. 
 
 This is one of the most celebrated temples in the country, and all Burmans stop here 
 to perform their devotions. It is often, according to Colonel Burney, mentioned in Burmese 
 history. It was founded by Nauratha Men-zau, the forty-second King of Pagan, A. d. 
 1064, and completed by one of his generals, Kyain-tseet-za, who came to the throne after 
 the son of Nauratha. f It enshrines a fac-simile of one of Gautama's teeth, which King 
 Nauratha Men-zau went with a large army into China to invite to Burma. The tooth, or 
 tusk as it is called, declined to come, but a miraculous duplicate of it was produced for the 
 Pagan King. 
 
 The pagoda is of considerable size, in the style of that at Prome, and, like it, gilt all 
 over. It stands in an enclosure surrounded by a high wall. This enclosure is now 
 crowded with minor temples, theins, and tazoungs.% One of the latter was a most elaborate 
 specimen of carved work. The design was much the s*ame as in other places, but here all 
 the surfaces, which are ordinarily left smooth, were cut in relief, with scrolls of foliage, 
 birds enveloped in leaves, &c. The bosses in the centre of the panels on the under side 
 of the roof were rose-like flowers, with a bird in the centre, and the lace-like fringe, or 
 border of the woodwork, consisted above of worshippers in the attitude of prayer, and 
 
 * A very detailed and elaborate account of this manufacture, by Colonel Burney, will be found in the 
 Trans. Royal As. Soc. iii. 147, and in the Journal Asiatic Society, Beng. i. 169. 
 
 t Burney 's Journal. But according to Crawfurd's table of kings, Nauratha-zau died in 1030, and 
 Kyain-tseet-za came to the throne in 1056. 
 
 X Tawung is an ornamented shed or roof over an image of Gautama. 
 
RETURN OF THE MISSION FROM THE CAPITAL TO RANGOON. 199 
 
 below of birds sucking flowers, or winging their flight from leaf to leaf. And yet 
 this beautiful structure is falling to ruin, though* ^aid to be only twelve or fifteen 
 years old. 
 
 Here is also the sacred fish of Gautama, and a stone image of a favourite horse of King 
 Kyain-tseet-za, said to have been an Elf horse,* possessing the power of flying. The fish 
 is thickly covered with gilding, the offering of successive worshippers, and i$ enclosed in a 
 little canopied niche with doors. At the other side of the temple, in a small wooden 
 building, are two hideous stone figures of Nats, which appear to be also much reverenced. 
 Mr. Oldham said he could see no difference apparent between the -worship offered to these 
 figures, and that offered at the pagodas. Presentations were made of flowers, and food, and 
 water, of gold leaf, &c, precisely as to the images of Gautama, and this by most of the 
 worshippers who visited the large temple. Certain slaves are set apart for their care, and 
 however contrary to the theory of Buddhist doctrine, they seemed to have more of 
 reverence than the holy tooth in the adjoining pagoda. Several inscriptions were gathered 
 in the enclosure, and just outside the northern gate there was a square sandstone pillar, 
 with inscriptions on all sides. 
 
 There is a temple of the same name within the walls of Pagan, which is said in its 
 original form to have been the first pagoda built in that city. It is otherwise uninteresting. 
 The 24th October we remained at Pagan ; but all that I have to say on the subject of that 
 " Burman Thebaid," as Ritter calls it,f has been given in Chapter II. 
 
 October 25th. — Early in the morning we quitted Pagan, and reached Yenangyoung at 
 3 r.M. The change in the height of the river was here very marked. The creek formed 
 by the waters of the Irawadi in the mouth of the khyong, or tributary stream, which had 
 served as a harbour to the war-boats during our former stay here, was now quite dry, and 
 its bed several feet above the surface of the great river. The fall must have been from 
 twelve to fourteen feet. 
 
 This state of things underwent a change during the night. Showers had fallen during 
 the day, but after midnight excessively heavy rain fell, and within two hours this brought 
 a deluge down the Yenan River. The sands adjoining the inlet were covered with huts and 
 with pots of earth-oil piled like shot pyramids to be ready for loading, and boats loading or 
 laden with oil were lying alongside. The sudden rush of water, falling like a cataract into 
 the Irawadi, swept away many of the little huts, and broke several of the boats from their 
 
 * In the original note it is called the horse of Gautama, but a memorandum in Burney's Journal 
 gives the true account doubtless. I suppose, however, that an image of Gautama's horse would have 
 been quite consistent with Buddhist ideas. In Fahian's travels mention is made of the Buddha's 
 favourite horse Kianthe' (Kantaka), which he rode when he went forth from his Palace to adopt the ascetic 
 life. He loaded the horse with his vestures and ornaments, and ordered it to return. The horse knelt 
 and wept at parting with his master, but obeyed, (Calcutta edition, p. 220.) Kantaka could gallop round 
 the ring of rocks that bounds the world, between the morning meal and noon ; (Hardy's Man. of Budd- 
 hism, p. 160.) The fish is, I believe, symbolical of Gautama. There is a legend, said to have been recited 
 in Pali verse by Gautama, telling how he was once a Fish-King, and exercised the virtues as such. 
 (Id. p. 278.) 
 
 t Erdkunde, 1835, Part V. p. 212. 
 
200 RETURN OF THE MISSION FROM THE CAHTAL TO RANGOON. 
 
 moorings. Four or five were driven against the vessels of our flotilla and sunk ; one of 
 the Nerbudda's boats was driven right under the Panlang flat, and came up on the other 
 side. The Bentinck and our flat dragged their anchors, and were carried up stream by the 
 eddy which the sudden rush of water gave rise to ; then, the stream regaining its prepon- 
 derance, we swung back again and dashed on the King's steamer, which was lashed along- 
 side the Nerbudda, doing her considerable damage. The constant shouting of men and 
 women from the shore was just heard above the noise of the rushing water, and the smell 
 of earth-oil was overpowering, from the quantity that had been wrecked or swept from the 
 shore and was floating on the surface of the river. We were unable to learn with certainty 
 if any lives had been lost. • 
 
 October 26th. — Making a short halt at Memboo, I went with Mr. Oldham, Dr. Forsyth, 
 and Mr. Grant, through heavy rain still continuing, to visit the mud volcanoes in the 
 neighbourhood of that town. But the description of these I leave in Mr. Oldham's better 
 hands.* 
 
 We halted in the afternoon at Menhla, where we spent our last night in the King's 
 dominions. Makertich, the Governor, who had attended us from the capital, gave a fare- 
 well entertainment at his house, which Mr. Oldham describes for me, as I was not well 
 enough to go. 
 
 Arranged in five rows in front of the guests were some five-and-thirty women and girls 
 seated, who commenced a low, quiet recitative, gradually swelling as they proceeded into a 
 monotonous song. They then rose and continued to stand, accompanying their song with 
 varied movements of their arms and bodies, not ungraceful, although stiff and Burman in 
 character. This group of girls continued to perform for half an hour or more, when they 
 gradually retired backwards, still keeping up their recitative, and their places were succes- 
 sively taken by another party of equal strength. The song was now more varied, and the 
 action also more varied and lively. This party was again succeeded by a third group of 
 younger girls, whose song and action were still more lively, rapid, and varied. They con- 
 cluded by forming different figures, and at last sitting down in a long oval, supposed to 
 represent a boat, whilst in time with their song they went through the attitudes of rowing, 
 &c. It appeared that these girls had been regularly practising this performance for many 
 days before our return ; and certainly they had been admirably trained. 
 
 27th. — We passed the boundary pillars about 11 a.m., and reached Thayet-myo about 
 half-past 12, having made scarcely any halt at Meaday. 
 
 The boundary between British Burma and the King's remaining territory nearly follows 
 the parallel of 19° 29'. It passes nearly throughout its extent over a wild and rugged 
 country, very scantily peopled, and was laid out in 1853-54, with great ability and labour, 
 by Major Grant Allan, of the Madras Quarter-Master-General's department, from the 
 summit of the Aracan Yoma-doung (or Spinal Range), to the first ridge of mountains east- 
 ward of the Sitang. It was not thought necessary or desirable to extend the definition of 
 the line to the Salwen, through the mountainous territory, more or less occupied 
 
 * See his paper in Appendix. 
 
KETCKN OF THE MISSION FKOM THE CAPITAL TO KANGOON. 20 1 
 
 or claimed by the race called Red Karens, who have always maintained a savage in- 
 dependence. 
 
 At Meaday (or more properly Myade) are located the ordnance and commissariat 
 magazines of the frontier force. It is a position of considerable natural strength, occupying 
 a peninsular plateau, elevated about sixty feet above the lowest level of the Irawadi, and 
 on the eastward separated from the mainland by the swampy valley of the Kenee river, 
 which, after doubling for some distance parallel to the great river, joins it about a quarter 
 of a mile below the fort. The plateau was formerly covered by a mass of pagodas and 
 monasteries, but now displays only monotonous lines of barrack roofs. It is surrounded by 
 an irregular parapet of brick. The whole place greatly requires remodelling and adapt- 
 ation to its purpose. 
 
 Meaday, as I have noticed elsewhere, is mentioned by Ferdinand Mendez Pinto (chap, 
 liv.), as Meletay, " a fortress twelve leagues up the river from Prom." In other passages 
 he speaks of " the kingdom " or principality of Meletay. 
 
 Five miles below Meaday, on the opposite or western bank, is Thayet-myo, " the city 
 of mango-trees." It is mentioned by Symes as " Sirraip-mew," and by Crawfurd as 
 Tharet, which is the more correct spelling, though pronounced as I write it. The latter 
 speaks of it as a thriving, populous place, but when selected as a British cantonment I 
 believe it had been almost deserted. 
 
 Thayet-myo is the head-quarters of the frontier brigade, and a European regiment is 
 cantoned there. The site is high and dry for Burma, and has hitherto proved very 
 healthy. The climate is oppressively hot in April and May ; the thermometer then 
 rising to 110° in the mat and plank houses of the residents, which are not adapted to mitigate 
 such a heat. But about the end of May rain begins to fall, and throughout the rest of 
 the year the temperature is mild and pleasant. Throughout the monsoon the fall of rain 
 does not exceed forty inches, but the sky is generally clouded, and the European soldiers go 
 about freely in the day-time, play cricket, and amuse themselves on the river. Boats have 
 been provided for their recreation by Government, and seemed to be fully made use of. 
 
 The soil and climate are said to be very favourable to the growth of European vege- 
 tables ; but as yet the want of water for garden irrigation has been an obstacle to their 
 culture, except on an experimental scale. Springs are only found at a depth somewhat 
 lower than the dry-weather surface of the Irawadi, and that is sixty feet below the general 
 level of the cantonment, so that the excavation of a well is rather a serious undertaking. 
 
 An experimental sheep-farm has been established here by the Commissariat, and has 
 been completely successful. The flocks thrive and breed freely. 
 
 Wooded hills, at a distance of four or five miles at the utmost, embrace on three sides 
 the undulating plain on which the cantonment stands. 
 
 Villages here are almost confined to the banks of the river, and those are few ; there 
 being little land adapted to rice-cultivation. The discovery of coal on the side of a hill 
 about five miles south of the station raised great hopes in the early part of 1855; but it 
 proved to be a very thin and isolated patch of a vertical seam, not workable in itself, and 
 from its position affording no promise of near recurrence in a more profitable form. 
 
 D D 
 
202 
 
 RETURN OF THE MISSION FROM THE CAPITAL TO RANGOON. 
 
 The view from the hill on which the coal was found (which I visited with Mr. Oldham 
 on our way up the river), presented an unbroken tract of dark forest, without a visible 
 symptom of human habitation. Westward, however, among the outer spurs of the Aracan 
 Yoma-doung, there are irrigated and cultivated valleys, belonging to the quondam district 
 of Mendoon. This was the appanage from which the King derived his title before his 
 assumption of the throne. 
 
 At Thayet-myo we have a Custom-house, at which duties (ten per cent on the value) 
 are levied on various articles of import and export. My endeavours to obtain a complete 
 detail of the exports and imports for a whole year have been unsuccessful. But enough is 
 shown in the details which I have abstracted and arranged in the Appendix to illustrate 
 curiously the present wants of the Burmese, and the staples of the Irawadi trade. 
 
 From the first quarter completed after the establishment of the Custom-house, the 
 amounts of trade and collections have beeen as follows : — 
 
 Total recorded Value 
 
 of Trade. 
 
 Rs. 5,45,815 6 
 
 5,89,872 14 
 
 5,99,758 14 
 
 7,41,005 4 
 
 6,96,909 11 
 
 11,60,719 2 
 
 13,68,362 14 
 
 8,04,799 11 
 
 These last four quarters show for one year a total value of trade amounting to forty 
 lakhs and thirty thousand rupees, and of collections amounting to three lakhs and twenty- 
 two thousand. But the fact is that the duty on imports, and the record of value of imports, 
 only commences from the 4th quarter of 1854-55, the previous returns marked * being only 
 for exports. During the last three quarters the proportion of imports and exports has been 
 as follows: — 
 
 4th Quarter 1854-55, Value of Imports Rs. 2,64,453 12 3 
 
 Exports 8,96,265 5 10 
 
 *3rd quarter of 1853-54 
 
 *4th ditto ditto 
 
 *lst ditto of 1854-55 
 
 *2nd ditto ditto 
 
 *3rd ditto ditto 
 
 4th ditto ditto 
 
 1st ditto of 1855-56 
 
 2nd ditto ditto 
 
 ue 
 
 Total amount of Duty 
 
 
 Collected. 
 
 6 
 
 Rs. 22,748 7 10 
 
 2 
 
 36,780 
 
 1 
 
 42,757 
 
 8 
 
 36,152 10 6 
 
 5 
 
 44,915 13 
 
 1 
 
 92,980 14 11 
 
 4 
 
 1,19,482 9 3 
 
 6 
 
 65,173 15 10 
 
 1st Quarter 1855-56 
 
 2nd Quarter ditto 
 
 Imports 
 Exports 
 
 3,88,337 15 6 
 9,80,034 14 10 
 
 „ Imports 4,20,685 2 4 
 
 Exports 3,84,114 9 2 
 
 The want of a complete year's returns leaves us in the dark as to the balance between 
 imports and exports, f 
 
 * See Tables in Appendix H. 
 
 t Since this was written I have seen, in the Friend of India, the imports for a whole year from June 
 1st, 1655, stated from official documents at 18,46,342 lis., and the exports at 15,42,464 Rs., giving a total 
 of 33,88,806 Rs., or 338,880^. for the present value of the trade up and down the river at the frontier. 
 
RETURN OF THE MISSION FROM THE CAPITAL TO RANGOON. 203 
 
 A very small proportion of the exports consists of English goods. The great bulk is 
 composed of the staples of a Burman's diet ; rice, salt, and putrescent fish in sundry shapes. 
 Of rice, clean and uncleaned, no less than 62,000 tons were exported from our provinces 
 into the King's territories during the year from 1st November, 1854, to 1st November, 
 1855. Of the rank condiment called ngapi, 13,500 tons were exported in the same 
 time, valued at more than 90,000/. sterling, and sufficient to supply about twenty-five 
 pounds a-head for all the probable Burman population of the king's dominions. It is dif- 
 fused, however, among nearly all the tribes inhabiting and adjoining the Burmese territory. 
 The exportation of piece goods in the same period did not amount to more than three 
 annas' worth for each individual of the same population (estimating them at 1,200,000.)* 
 
 Of the imports, probably, some considerable proportion of the petroleum, sesamum, teak, 
 timber, and cutch, may have been destined for foreign shipment. But the 88,000 rupees' 
 worth of silk goods during the nine months of 1855, the 1220 tons of chillies, garlic, onions, 
 and turmeric, the 470,000lbs. of tea, the l,140,000lbs. of tobacco, and the 50,000 lackered 
 boxes, were all probably destined for consumption among the inhabitants of British Burma. 
 It is remarkable to find so little cotton (Rs. 1341 only), an article which used to be 
 exported from Rangoon in considerable amount, as well as by the Aeng pass to Bengal. 
 Of the present trade by the latter route, I have not succeeded in getting any account. 
 But the King's monopoly of the cotton has probably thrown this staple nearly all into the 
 Yunan trade, in which the demand for cotton seems insatiable. The import of wheat seems 
 as yet inconsiderable (about 400 tons in the three quarters.) The article called " Pegu 
 wheat" in Mark Lane, I am told, comes from Bengal. 
 
 There is a Custom-house on the Toungoo side of the frontier also, but the trade there 
 is comparatively insignificant. 
 
 After a very brief halt at Thayet-myo we continued our downward voyage, and 
 reached Prome after dark. From Thayet-myo to Prome the Irawadi flows between bold, 
 hilly, and (at this season) densely-wooded banks, peculiarly striking to those who in India 
 have generally been accustomed to associate rivers of great magnitude with ill-defined 
 channels, and flat alluvial valleys. There is, however, a sad want of life and population. 
 The most prominent exception to this is at the twin villages of Kama and Gyoondoung, 
 lying on each side of the fertile little valley of the Made, a tributary flowing in from the 
 Aracan hills. 
 
 There is no need to carry this narrative further. We reached Rangoon on the 30th of 
 October. 
 
 * See Tables in Appendix H. 
 
20 !• NOTES ON THE INTERCOURSE OF TIIE BURMESE COUNTRIES WITH 
 
 CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 NOTES ON TIIE INTERCOURSE OF THE BURMESE COUNTRIES WITH WESTERN NATIONS, UP TO THE 
 
 PEACE OF YANDABO. 
 
 Ptolemy, where was his Golden Chersonese — Why Golden? — Introduction of Buddhism — Intercourse 
 with Ceylon — Burmese Inscription at Gaya — Marco Polo — Nicolo da Conti — Santo Stephano — 
 Barthema — Nunez d'Acunha — Odoardo Barbosa — Tattooing, and Burmese Barbarism — Portuguese 
 Envoy — Ferdinand Mendez Pinto — Lake of Chimay — Portuguese Partisan Leaders in the Sixteenth 
 Century — Toungoo Princes conquer Pegu and all the adjoining Countries — Caspar de Cruz — 
 Bomferrus — Csesar Frederick — Superlative Terms in speaking of Peguan Power and Magnificence — 
 Fall of Pegu and Devastation of the Country — It has never recovered — Gasparo Balbi — Mr. Ralph 
 Fitch — Jamahey (Zinime) — Jesuit Relations — Philip de Brito de Nicote — Dominance of Ava over 
 Pegu begins — First English Trade with the Country — British Factories in the Interior of Burma — 
 Negrais surveyed — Fleetwood's Mission — Alison's Mission — Contests of Burmese and Peguans in 
 last Century — Baker's Mission to Alompra at Moutshobo — Lister's Mission — Massacre of Negrais — 
 Mission of Captain Alves — French Mission — Symes sent Envoy by Sir John Shore — Captain Cox sent 
 as Resident — Treatment of him — Lord Wellesley sends Symes again — Insulting Usage — Lieutenant 
 Canning's Missions — Disturbances on the Aracan Frontier — War of 1824^26 — Treaty of Yandabo. 
 
 Ptolemy is, I believe, the only ancient geographer who gives any particulars of these 
 countries. He quotes his predecessor, Marinus of Tyre (who lived about A. d. 100), as 
 referring to the log of one Alexander, who had voyaged along the shores as far as Tliinae 
 and Cattigara. Great difference of opinion has existed as to the identification of these and 
 the hitherward localities which he names. Some, considering that the Aurea Chersonesus 
 which was passed in reaching the two places above mentioned can only answer to the 
 Peninsula of Malacca, have carried their locality as far eastward as the southern extremity 
 of Camboja. But Gosselin* has shown strong reason to believe that the Aurea Chersonesus 
 really represents the protuberant Delta of the Irawadi, and that Thinae is rather to be 
 identified with Tenasserim. There are abundant difficulties in the way of either inter- 
 pretation. 
 
 It is an interesting subject, but a great deal more learning and leisure than I possess 
 would be required to discuss it properly. Two arguments, however, may be mentioned 
 which appear strongly to favour Gosselin's theory. Ptolemy describes the various rivers 
 of the Chersonesus as mutually communicating, a circumstance which could not apply to 
 the Malay Peninsula, but which applies excellently to the waters of the Delta. These 
 rivers, whose embouchures he names Chrysoana Palanda and Attabas, would therefore be 
 
 * Recherches sur la Geographic des Ancient, par P. F. J. Gosselin. Paris, 1813. Vol. iii. 
 
WESTERN NATIONS, UP TO THE PEACE OF YANDABO. 205 
 
 three of the principal outlets of the Irawadi. Again, immediately westward of the Cher- 
 sonesus, he places the Sinus Sabaricus, and in this gulf the mouths of the river Besynga. 
 Now, a little below, in his sketch of the hydrography of India beyond the Ganges, the 
 Geographer says distinctly, " From the range of Maeandrus flow down all the rivers beyond 
 Ganges, until you come to the river Besynga.'" This remark seems infallibly to identify 
 Mons Maeandrus with the Yoma-doung, the great spinal ridge of Aracan, and the river 
 Besynga with the Bassein branch of the Irawadi. 
 
 The Rev. Mr. Mason, in his valuable book, " The Natural Productions of Burma,"* 
 following the more common arrangement of maps of ancient geography, which makes the 
 Sinus Sabaricus represent the Gulf of Martaban, traces Besynga in the Salwen, called by 
 the Talains, or people of Pegu, Be-khung. But it may be suggested that Bailmn-khyoung 
 (river of Bassein, in Burmese) affords at least as strong a resemblance. And it is curious 
 that this very Gulf of Negrais, which we take to be the Sinus Sabaricus, is called by 
 several of the old travellers "the Sea of Bara."f 
 
 Where the data are so vague, attempts at the identification of names are rather amusing 
 than profitable. But a few may be mentioned. Sada suits in locality as well as name 
 with Sandoway, which is mentioned at a very early period of Burmese history.:): Zabai 
 has been identified by Gosselin with Tavoy. In Ptolemy's list of inland cities to the north 
 of the Chersonesus occurs the name of Mareura metropolis. The identity of this has been 
 suggested § with the ancient city of Mauroya; which, as Col. Burney tells us from the 
 Burman histories, preceded Tagoung as the seat of the Sakya kings. Mauroya is now 
 known as Mueyen, a town not far south from Bamo. 
 
 In Tugma metropolis, an inland city of the Aurea Regio, we have, perhaps, the venerable 
 city of Tagoung ; in Tharra, an inland city of the Chersonesus, Tharawadi, or, perhaps, 
 Thare-khettara, the ancient name of Prome; Satyrorum Promontorium we might be 
 tempted to find in the point of Bilu-gyoon, or Ogre's Island, off Maulmain. At the 
 northern confines of Mons Maaandrus, Ptolemy, true to this day, places the Nanga logos, or 
 Naga Log, which he defines, as truly, to mean " the Naked Folk." Eastward, towards the 
 Sinae, are the Kakobae, whom Col. Hannay || finds in the Ka-khyens, called by themselves 
 Kakoos ; and near the shores of the Magnus Sinus we find the Kadopae, or Kadotae, who 
 may be the Karens, called in the Talain language, according to F. Buchanan, Kadoon. 
 Beyond them we get among tribes of Pirates, who are said to have skin like that of a hip- 
 popotamus, not penetrable by arrows ; so we may decline to follow Ptolemy any further. 
 It may be noted, that though the Geographer characterises several tribes in these parts as 
 
 ' * Published at Maulmain, 1850. See under the head of Ethnology, p. 427. Mr. Mason is a member 
 of the American Baptist Mission. 
 
 t Vide Ca;sar Frederick in Purchas, ii. 1717, and Gasparo Balbi, id. p. 1724. At the same time, be 
 it said, I feel some misgiving that this Bara may be only the Bar of Negrais. In Wood's map, at the 
 beginning of Symes's Narrative, one of the mouths of the Irawadi is called Barago; and I believe Barago 
 Point is still the name given by mariners to the extreme point of the Delta. 
 
 % See Colonel Burney in Jour. As. Soc. Bengal, v. 163. 
 
 § By Colonel Hannay in his Sketch of the Singphos, 1847, p. 32, and by Mr. Mason, i. p. 445. 
 
 || As above, p. 2. 
 
206 NOTES ON THE INTERCOURSE OF THE BURMESE COUNTRIES WITH 
 
 Anthropophagi, he affixes " Emporium" to the names of various places on the coast, which 
 seems to indicate civilization and foreign trade. 
 
 Why these lands should have been termed the lands of silver and gold (Argentea 
 Regio, Aurea Regio, Chersonesus Aurea) may appear obscure, as they are not now 
 remarkably productive of those metals. There are, however, gold-washings on a small 
 scale in many of the rivulets both of Pegu and of the valley of the upper Irawadi and of 
 the Kyendwen, which may have been more productive in ancient times. And the Argentea 
 Regio may probably (as suggested by Col. Hannay*) have been the territory including the 
 Bau-Dwen, or great silver mine on the Chinese frontier, which is believed to supply a 
 large part of the currency of Burma. Indeed Aurea Regio may be only a translation of 
 the name Sonaparanta, which is the classic or sacred appellation of the central region of 
 Burma, near the junction of the Irawadi and the Kyendwen, always used to this day in 
 the enumeration of the King's titles. These regions may, moreover, have been the channels 
 by which the precious metals were brought from China, and the mountains near the sources 
 of the Irawadi, which are said to be very productive of gold ; and possibly, even at that 
 remote period, the profuse use of gilding in edifices may have characterised the people, as it 
 does now. 
 
 It seems, however, most probable that this practice was introduced with Buddhism. f 
 Yet even at the period of the first Buddhistic mission to this region, at the conclusion of 
 the third great synod, b. c. 241, it was known in India as " Suvama Bhumi," the Golden 
 Land.j 
 
 According to Mr. Mason, the ancient capital of the Talains (of the Toung-thoos, accord- 
 ing to the tradition of the latter) was Thadung, or Satung, a city whose traces still exist 
 between the mouths of the Salwen and the Sitang. Suvanna-bumme, he adds, but 
 unfortunately stating no authority, is still the classic Pali name of Satung.§ 
 
 In the beginning of the fifth century, Buddhaghosa, a Brahmin of Magadha, visited 
 Ceylon, and there revised the Buddhist scriptures, and re-translated them into Pali. He 
 carried his version with him to Pegu, and there made it known. In A. d. 1171, a mission 
 was sent from Burma to Ceylon, and ten years subsequently five men deeply versed in the 
 Burmese scriptures came from Ceylon to Pagan. One of the number is said to have been 
 a Cambojan, and another a Cingalese.! 
 
 * Sketch of the Singphos, p. s 2. 
 
 t The elaborate gilding of chapels and monastic cells in India and Central Asia is mentioned by 
 Fahian, the Chinese pilgrim of the fifth century. (See Laidlay's Translation, p. 18, &c.) 
 
 \ " Sono and Uttaro were deputed to Suvama Bhumi, or Golden Land. As this country was on the 
 sea-coast, it may be identified either with Ava, the Aurea Regio, or with Siam, the Aurea Chersonesus. 
 Six millions of people are said to have been converted, of whom twenty-five thousand men became 
 monks, and fifteen hundred women became nuns." — Quoted from the Mahawanso, by Major Cunningham, 
 in his Bhiha Topes, p. 118. 
 
 § Mason, as above, p. 427. He also says that Maubee, in the delta of the Irawadi, was called Suvanna 
 nodi, River of Gold. Sobana emporium and Sobanas occur as the names of a town and river in 
 Ptolemy's list. And Chrysoanas, his name for one of the rivers of the delta, looks like a translation of 
 the same. 
 
 I! Mason, p. 453. 
 
WESTERN NATIONS, UP TO THE PEACE OF YANDABO. 207 
 
 The intercourse with Ceylon appears to have continued more or less till a late period. 
 It was not always an intercourse of merely a religious character. In one instance, 
 more particularly referred to at page 47, we find a King of Geylon carrying a hostile 
 armament against the Burman countries (a. d. 1153);* and in another we find "Brama, 
 King of Pegu," as he was called by the Portuguese, sending to solicit the daughter of a 
 King of Ceylon in marriage (about 1566).f 
 
 It is scarcely possible that any intercourse should go on at the present day, if we may 
 judge by the surprise and incredulity of the Burmese courtiers, when told by Major Phayre 
 that the sacred island of Lankadwipa also belonged to the English. The last remarkable 
 instance of intercommunication between Ceylon and Burma, of which I am aware, occurred 
 towards the end of the last century, when the maintenance of caste-distinctions among 
 the priesthood by the kings of Candy provoked the low-caste monks to organise an 
 expedition to the orthodox Buddhists of Burma, with a view to the restoration of equal 
 rights. [This mission has been more particularly noticed under note C] 
 
 That religious visits were made during the middle ages from the Burmese countries to 
 the sacred spots of Buddhism in India, is proved by an inscription in Burmese at Buddha- 
 Gaya, discovered by the Burmese Envoys who were sent to Lord W. Bentinck in 1831-33. 
 Some doubt attaches to the reading of the date, and the determination of the King whose 
 repair of the temple it commemorates. Col. Burney ascribed it to the reign of Aloung- 
 tsee-thoo, A. d. 1105. 
 
 There is no mention of Pegu by the Mahomedans of the ninth century, whose travels 
 were published by the Abbe Renaudot, and are given in Pinkerton's and various other 
 collections, nor, so far as I can learn, by any Western traveller till the time of Marco 
 Polo. 
 
 Indeed, the first opening for Christian travellers into Asia was in quite another direction, 
 and much farther to the North. Monks of Italy, France, and Flanders, jostled each other 
 at the court of Kara Korum; and Mongol ambassadors found their way to Paris and 
 Northampton,! when as yet all that Europe knew of India was derived from Strabo and 
 Arrian. 
 
 It is probably Pagan which Marco Polo speaks of under the name of Mien, " a great 
 and noble city, the head of the kingdom." Mien is said by Col. Burney to be the Chinese 
 name of Burma. § But Marco does not speak as if he had himself been in the country, 
 
 * It is curious that in the reign of the preceding monarch of Burma, Aloungtsee-thoo, it is said in the 
 chronicles that " the Governors of Bassein, of other districts in the Talain country, the Kala Governor 
 of the Island of Ceylon, and he of Tenasserim, having rebelled, were put down, and their countries taken 
 possession of." — (Mason, as above.) 
 
 t Hist, of the Discovery and Conquest of India by the Portuguese. London, 1695. 
 
 % Remusat, Memoire sur les Relations Politiques des Princes Chretiens, &c. avec les Empereurs Mon- 
 gols, 1824, p. 154. 
 
 § Journal As. iSo. Ben. iv. 400. Dr. Buchanan says that the Chinese of Yunan call the Burmese 
 Lau Meen.—As. Res. v. 223. In Duhalde's Maps a distinction is made between the kingdoms of Yaoua 
 and Mien. 
 
208 NOTES ON THE INTERCOURSE OF THE BURMESE COUNTRIES WITH 
 
 and there is only one unmistakably Burmese feature in his story. This is in the descrip- 
 tion of two towers in pyramid fashion which a certain king caused to be built near his 
 sepulchre; "upon the top, round about the balls," he says, "many little gold and silver 
 bells were hanged, which at the blowing of the wind give a certain sound." The date of 
 the expedition which Marco Polo relates is between a.d. 1272 and 1290. 
 
 In 1444 Nicolo di Conti,* a Venetian, returned from five-and-twenty years' travelling 
 in the East. He visited Racha (Aracan), on a river of the same name, and thence, " after 
 seventeen days passing desert hills, came into a champaign country." He must, therefore, 
 have gone over the Aeng pass, or some other pass of the Aracan Yoma. He speaks of the 
 river of Ava as greater than the Ganges, the city of Ava as fifteen miles in circuit, &c. ; 
 the kingdom itself he calls Macin (Maha-chin, doubtless, a name often applied in India to 
 the little known Eastern kingdoms indiscriminately). He is the first traveller, I believe, 
 who mentions the white elephant, and the name of Ava, which had not then existed a 
 century .f He speaks also of the Burmese fashion of tattooing the body, as common both 
 with men and women. The latter do not now practise it, though among their Khyen 
 neighbours it is almost confined to the women. 
 
 Di Conti makes the singular statement, that the people in their daily prayer said, " God 
 in Trinity keep us in his Law." This, which at first sight looks like fiction, is really an 
 evidence of his veracity. He had doubtless heard of " the three precious ones," the triad 
 of Buddha, Dharma, and Sanga, the Buddha, the Law, and the Clergy (see note by 
 Remusat, in Pilgrimage of Fa-Man, Cal. 1848, p. 42)4 
 
 In 1496 Pegu was visited by Hieronymo da Santo Stephano, a Genoese, who is, I 
 believe, the first European by whom Pegu is distinctly mentioned. He speaks of it as a 
 great city ruled by a " Gran Signore," who possessed 10,000 elephants. He was prevented 
 from visiting Ava by war between the two nations. § 
 
 About the same time, or a little later, we find at Pegu another traveller, Lodovico 
 
 * Ramusio, i. 340. The narrative is very imperfect, which is to be regretted, as it bears the stamp 
 of honesty. A few additional particulars are given in Purchas, ii. 159, from another version of Di Conti's 
 travels. 
 
 t He is also the first traveller who mentions a strange, obscene, and barbarous custom, which is 
 spoken of so repeatedly by all travellers during the next two hundred years, that it seems impossible to 
 doubt its having existed, though, I believe, there is not now the slightest trace of it ; unless the practice 
 be so, which some of the Burmese warriors are said to retain, of inserting a piece of metal under the flesh 
 to make themselves invulnerable. Some old travellers ascribe to the Siamese and Shans, as well as the 
 Burmese, the custom alluded to. The prevalence of such a custom might seem a strong corroboration of 
 the idea expressed by Bitter (Erdkunde, v. 171), that the Burmans have not long emerged from barbarism. 
 There is a deep element of barbarism in the Burman character, but, looking to Pagan and other evi- 
 dences, it may be doubted whether their civilization, such as it is, was not fully greater eight centuries 
 ago than in later days. The modified practice referred to above is witnessed to by Mr. Howard Malcom, 
 who was allowed by one of the Christian converts at Ava to take several amulets of gold from under the 
 skin of his arm. — (i. 307.) 
 
 X In the letter which the King of Ava wrote to the Governor-general, in 1830, his Majesty speaks of 
 his " observing the three objects of worship, namely, God, his precepts, and his attendants or priests " 
 (Buddha, Dharma, and Sanga). 
 
 § Ramusio Navigationi et Viaggi, Venetia mdlxui. i. p. 345. 
 
WESTERN NATIONS, UP TO THE PEACE OF TANDABO. 209 
 
 Barthema, of Bologna. He gives few interesting particulars, but mentions "great 
 canes " (bamboos) " as large as a barrel," and, like all the travellers to these parts, speaks 
 much of the rubies, the original locality of which they all assign to a city, or moun- 
 tainous region, called Capelan, beyond Ava. He also speaks of Pegu and Ava as at 
 war.* 
 
 With the extension of European discovery in the beginning of the sixteenth century, 
 European traders and Portuguese adventurers began to haunt the coasts of Pegu. The 
 first Portuguese traveller known to us is Ruy Nunez d'Acunha, who was sent thither by 
 Alphonso d' Albuquerque in 151 l.f 
 
 The travels of Odoardo Barbessa to this coast, about 1520, are given in Ramusio's col- 
 lection. He speaks of " Verma " as a distinct kingdom from Ava, as many later travellers 
 do. Apparently Toungoo is meant.J 
 
 About the same time Antony Correa was sent by the Portuguese to negotiate a treaty 
 with the King of Pegu.§ 
 
 The celebrated Ferdinand Mendez Pinto was in these countries as a military adventurer 
 in 1 545, and professes to have been present at the sieges of Martaban and Prome. His 
 relations are full of extravagant statements, and a great deal of his geography is probably 
 absolute invention. Still it is evident that he was in the country. Among names still 
 easily recognisable which he mentions, are Dalaa (Dalla, near the coast of the Delta), 
 Digon (Dagon, i.e. Rangoon), the Province of Danaplu (Danobyu), Ansedaa (Henzada), 
 and Meletay (Meaday). The last he correctly describes as a fortress twelve leagues up 
 the river from Prome. || 
 
 Many of the old maps depict a certain "Lake of Chimay," somewhere in the far interior 
 of the Indo-Chinese countries, whence issue all the great rivers of Eastern India.! But 
 Ferdinand Mendez is probably the only traveller who declares he had seen it. He gives it, 
 however, a different name. 
 
 During the constant wars that went on between Siam, Pegu, Toungoo, Ava, and 
 Aracan, during this century, some Portuguese partisans appear generally to have been 
 found on either side. Thus, in 1544, when Martaban was besieged by "Para Man- 
 dara (as he is called by the Portuguese writers)** King of the Burmas" (i.e. of Toun- 
 
 * Ramusio Navigationi et Viaggi, Venetia mdlxiii. i. p. 165. 
 
 t Purchas, ii. 1681. J Ramusio, p. 316. 
 
 § Modem Universal History, vi. 162. 
 
 || Elsewhere he speaks of the kingdom of Meletay, which other travellers have reproduced as a 
 kingdom of Melintay. It is curious that Malanda is one of Ptolemy's names for an inland city in this 
 region. 
 
 IT Such a notion seems to have been generally diffused, probably from India with the Buddhist 
 legends. Doubtless it originated in the fact of the rise of the Indus, the Sutlej, the Ganges, and the 
 Tsanpoo, within a space of little more than two square degrees, from that great world-water-shed on 
 which lake Manasarovar lies. 
 
 ** Probably Men-tara-gyi Phra, a common appellation of Burmese monarchs. It is commonly in- 
 terpreted by Burmese scholars as " Great King of Justice," or Righteousness. But as I see that Para 
 Mendr is also a title of the kings of Siam, the word must be from the Pali, probably from Mantra — 
 Counsel, as suggested by Professor Wilson. 
 
 E E 
 
210 NOTES ON THE INTERCOURSE OF THE BURMESE COUNTRIES WITH 
 
 goo),* we find among his force some galleys manned by Portuguese under John Cayero, and 
 five years later, when the same Prince invaded Siam and attacked the capital, he had with 
 him 180 Portuguese, under James Suarez de Melo, whilst the King of Siam, in his 
 besieged city of Odia,f had fifty Portuguese under James Pereyra-J 
 
 Some years later, when this conquering King of the Burmas had been murdered by the 
 " Shemin of Satan" (Sitang, probably), and the latter contested the throne with a member 
 of the old royal house of Pegu, whom the Portuguese call Shemindoo, he was killed before 
 Pegu by a fortunate shot from the musket of Gonzalo Neto. But, in 1552, a second Prince of 
 Toungoo again got possession of Pegu. This is the King called by the old writers Aleagar, 
 or " Brama King of Pegu,"§ who extended his conquests over Ava, Mogonng, Jangomai 
 (Zimme), the west of Yunan, and other adjoining states, and the wealth and splendour of 
 whose court made Pegu so famous in Europe as an empire of fabulous magnificence. 
 
 Caspar de Cruz, a Dominican, appears to have been to the East between 1550 and 1560. 
 He speaks of the " Brames " as " a great people, very rich of gold and precious stones ; 
 chiefly of rubies ; a proud nation, and a valiant. The country very scarce of victuals. They 
 wear their clothes painted or wrought. They are somewhat like the Chinas in their faces ; 
 they have very rich and gallant shippings garnished with gold, in which they sail in the 
 rivers ; they use vessels of gold and of silver ; their houses are of timber very well wrought. 
 The kingdom is very great. They have not commonly war with the Chinas, because of the 
 great mountains that are between the one and the other, and because the Chinas are well 
 fortified on that side," || &c. All which is very accurate. 
 
 In 1557 Bomferrus, a Dominican missionary, returned from Pegu. He had spent 
 three years in learning their language and mysteries, that he might preach among them, 
 " but was soon forced to give over and return into India ; for they could not endure to hear 
 any better knowledge than they had. "IT This missionary appears to have given a tolerable 
 account of Buddhism as it exists in these countries. 
 
 In 1569 Caesar Frederick, a Venetian merchant, was in Pegu, and gave a very inter- 
 esting account of that country. That same "Brama of Toungoo" was on the throne, who 
 was said to have twenty and six crowned heads at his command, and to be able to bring 
 into the field a million and a half of men of war ! ** " For people, dominions, gold and silver," 
 
 * According to the history consulted by Sangermano, the kingdom of Toungoo was founded by a 
 Prince of Pagan in 1252. The conqueror, Para Mandara, whom Sangermano calls Mentrasvedi, was the 
 thirtieth prince of the line. 
 
 t Odio, Yuthia, or Ayodhyd, the former capital of Siam, above Bankok. 
 
 % History of the Discovery and Conquest of India by the Portuguese. London, 1695. ii. 134-8. 
 
 § His name in Burmese history is Tshen-byu-mya-yen, " Lord of many white elephants." lie is the 
 personage called by Pinto, " The Chaumigrem." " He was born on a Wednesday," says the chronicle, 
 * and on the day of his death the great pagoda fell into ruins, an inundation covered the whole city, and 
 a shower of rubies fell from heaven." — Sangermano, p. 45. 
 
 || In Purchas, iii. p. 169. 
 
 1" Purchas, v. p. 507. This Friar, according to Sir Thomas Herbert, " came home professing that he 
 had rather with St. Anthony preach among pigs than among such a swinish generation."' — Herbert's 
 Travels, p. 359. 
 
 ** That is, more than twice the whole population of the British province of Pegu in 1856. 
 
WESTERN NATIONS, TJ1> TO THE PEACE OF YANDABO. 211 
 
 Master Frederick hesitates not to say, " he far excels the power of the Great Turk in 
 treasure and strength." 
 
 These expressions seem utterly preposterous, when we see what Pegu and Burma are in 
 our day. All the old travellers use similar superlative terms in speaking of the Peguan 
 monarchy at this time. Yet Frederick, and Fitch, who followed him a few years later, are 
 men who give a sober and true account of other matters, in which we still may compare 
 their descriptions with facts as they are. * 
 
 It may, perhaps, be remarked, that only at the end of the last century the spectacles of 
 Colonel Symes appear to have shown him in Burma a magnificent and civilised empire, 
 including a population which he estimated at seventeen millions. Later experience has 
 proved that the Colonel's view of the magnificence and civilisation was as exaggerated as 
 his estimate of the population. 
 
 But, making allowance for a similar tendency to the over-estimation of so distant a 
 region by the older travellers, in reading their narratives it is impossible to resist the convic- 
 tion that the lower provinces, at least of the Irawadi, exhibited in the sixteenth century a 
 much more flourishing and wealthy community than now exists in the delta, and we have, 
 in the subsequent history of the country, the causes of a great deterioration. The splendour 
 of the Peguan monarchy was very short-lived. In the time of the son of the conquering 
 Prince came a succession of internal and external wars, during which the country was 
 harassed and devastated, both by the cruelties of the savage King, and by invasions from 
 Aracan, Siam, Toungoo, and Ava, by all which Pegu was reduced to the depths of desolation 
 and misery ; insomuch that Purchas, in a curious chapter " on the destruction and desolation 
 of Pegu," f collected from the writings of numerous eye-witnesses, his contemporaries, thinks 
 it appropriate to observe, that " the natives of Pegu are not quite extinct, but many of 
 them are fled into other kingdoms." Notices of the history of Pegu are defective during 
 the greater part of the seventeenth century, and I do not know what further wars took 
 place during that period. But towards the middle of the century following came its tem- 
 porary re-assertion of independence and even of supremacy, and its rapidly succeeding 
 subjection to the vengeance of Alompra. It is not surprising that Pegu should never have 
 recovered from calamities so repeated and disastrous. History scarcely justifies the expec- 
 tation that countries should recover, even in long periods of comparative repose, from such 
 universal and thorough devastation. And the habits of the Burman races are not favour- 
 able to increase of population. A singularly small proportion of their children live to 
 maturity. J 
 
 * See, for instance, Frederick's vivid and accurate account of the bore in the Sitang (Purchas, ii. 
 1716), which I have lately had the opportunity of comparing with that of a good observer, Mr. T. Login. 
 
 t V. p. 500. 
 
 % I have lately read, in the course of my ordinary duties, a report by Mr. T. Login on a projected canal 
 to the Sitang, from the Pegu river at a point below the ancient capital. He speaks incidentally of traces 
 of extensive cultivation in tracts which now scarcely show two souls to the square mile. The vast ruined 
 pagoda of Mahkau, of which Mr. Login speaks in the same report, doubtless represents the site of the 
 castle of Maccao, mentioned by the old travellers as the place where goods for the royal city were dis- 
 charged ; and where the King had his gardens and his boat-races. 
 
 During the three years that have elapsed since the war that terminated in the annexation of Pegu, in 
 
212 NOTES ON THE INTERCOURSE OF THE BURMESE COUNTRIES WITH 
 
 Returning from this digression, we find, in 1583, Gasparo Balbi, a jeweller of Venice, 
 visiting Pegu with a stock of emeralds. As with all the travellers about this period, his 
 ship made a port in the river of Bassein, or one of its channels, called by them Cosmi, or 
 Cosmin,* which seems at that time, distant as it was from the capital, to have been the 
 principal port of Pegu. 
 
 In entering the Bassein river, his description of the gilded beacon temple of Modaen, 
 on Pagoda point, and of the swarms of flies attracted by the ngape manufacture at 
 Negrais, are pleasant to read in their graphic truth, after three centuries nearly have 
 past. 
 
 From Cosmin the travellers appear to have taken a route through the ramified channels 
 of the lower Delta, and Balbi mentions several great and fair cities by the way.f In seven 
 days they reached Dalla (near the mouth of the Rangoon river), and next day the " citie 
 of Dogon" (Rangoon), where he describes the great Pagoda, &c, in a manner still very 
 recognisable. 
 
 Mr. Ralph Fitch, merchant of London, is the first Englishman who has given an 
 account of a visit to Pegu. He follows the same route as the last traveller, by Cosmin to 
 Dalla, Sirian, and Pegu. 
 
 Fitch's account of the capital appears to be borrowed to some extent from that of his 
 predecessor, Frederick, which I have partly extracted in illustration of my description of 
 Amarapoora.J From Pegu he extended his travels to " Iamahey, which is in the country 
 of the Langeiannes, whom we call Iangomes ; it is five-and-twenty days' journey north-east 
 from Pegu." This Iamahey, or Jamahey, is undoubtedly the Shan town of Zimme, which 
 has been very rarely reached by any European traveller in modern times. Fitch describes 
 it as "a very faire and great Towne, with faire houses of stone;" which is remarkable, 
 if true. 
 
 From the accounts of all the travellers of this period we derive the impression of a 
 thriving trade in the ports of Pegu. Martaban, we are told by Frederick and Fitch, was 
 frequented by many ships from Malacca, Sirian by ships from Mecca (Mocha probably) 
 and Achen, Cosmin by ships from Bengal, St. Thome (Madras), and Masulipatam. 
 
 some of the districts which, directly or indirectly, suffered most, such as Padoung and Mendoon (west 
 and northwest of Prome), scarcely any favourable reaction has taken place. 
 
 The writer had an opportunity of seeing the state of the former small district, between the Aracan 
 hills and the Irawadi, once covered with beautiful and thriving towns and villages, in trayelling from the 
 Aracan coast to Prome, in March 1853, just as the war was closing. And one may conceive how deadly 
 and enduring would be the results of war, repeated year after year in such a country, by various hosts of 
 barbarians. Such all these races eminently arc in war, whatever they may be in peace. 
 
 * I had always supposed from the narratives that Cosmin must have been Bassein itself. But in 
 Wood's map (1795), the last which gives the name, Cosmin is placed on another channel, to the eastward 
 of the main Bassein river. 
 
 f Frederick states that at all the villages on this route " hennes, pigeons, eggs, milke, rice, and other 
 things be very good and cheape ;" a very different state of things from the present, when our hungry 
 surveyors complain that they can get neither "hennes" nor eggs, let alone " other things," for love or 
 money. 
 
 X See chap. v. 
 
WESTERN NATIONS, UP TO THE PEACE OF YANDABO. 213 
 
 Fitch was at Pegu in the end of 1586, and the kingdom seems still to have stood in 
 its glory.* 
 
 But only eleven years later, in 1598, Nicholas Pimenta, Visitor of the Jesuits in India, 
 relates the destruction of the Peguan monarchy, and the miserable state of the country, as 
 reported to him by ships which arrived at St. Thome when he was organising a Mission 
 for Pegu. 
 
 In March 1600, Boves, another Jesuit, writes that he was in the country when the 
 King, besieged by the Kings of Aracan and Toungoo, surrendered and was put to death. 
 " It is a lamentable spectacle," says the Padre, " to see the banks of the rivers, set with 
 infinite fruit-bearing trees, now overwhelmed with ruins of gilded temples and noble 
 edifices ; the ways and fields full of skulls and bones of wretched Peguans, killed or famished, 
 and cast into the river in such numbers that the multitude of carcases prohibiteth the way 
 and passage of any ships; to omit the burnings and massacres committed by this, the 
 cruellest tyrant that ever breathed."f 
 
 After his victory, the King of Aracan made over the port of Sirian to Philip de Brito, 
 a Portuguese partisan leader.f De Brito, however, quarrelled with the King of Aracan, 
 and went to Goa to obtain the support of the Viceroy. During his absence, his followers 
 proclaimed him King of Pegu. He continued to carry things with a high hand for some 
 years, capturing the son of his former patron, the King of Aracan, for whom he demanded 
 a ransom of 50,000 crowns :§ and some time afterwards he treacherously seized the person 
 and treasure of the King of Toungoo, || with whom he had made alliance. In 1610 a tra- 
 veller says of de Brito : " He yet also domineereth and careth for nobodie." 1T He had 
 married his son Simon to a daughter of the King of Martaban,** which province had appa- 
 rently risen again to brief independence during the anarchy which succeeded the fall of the 
 Peguan monarchy. 
 
 In 1613, however, the King of Ava appeared on the field, and with a large army be- 
 sieged de Brito in Sirian, where the Portuguese leader made a desperate defence. The 
 King of Aracan, whom he had so grievously offended, sent fifty vessels to his assistance, 
 but they were captured by the Burmans. At last de Brito was betrayed and carried to the 
 King, who caused him to be " spitted," or impaled, and set up on an eminence overlooking 
 the fort. In such misery he continued to live for two days. His wife, Donna Luisa de 
 Saldanha, was sent to Ava with the other captives. ft 
 
 The dominance of Ava over the lower provinces dates from this time. 
 
 The King, after having been crowned at Pegu, sent his brother to master the southern 
 
 * Purchas, vol. ii. 
 
 f Boves in Purchas, ii. 1748. 
 
 X Ditto, ditto. 
 
 § Hist, of Disc, and Conq. of India by the Portuguese, iii. 138, &c. and Purchas, v. p. 514. 
 
 || Hence called by the Burmese Kala-ya-men, "The King whom the Kalas seized."— Colonel Burney 
 in Jour. As. Soc. Ben. iv. 404. 
 
 *H Relations of Strange Oecurrents, by Peter Williamson Floris, in Purchas, i. 322. 
 
 ** Hist, of Disc, and Conq. as above. 
 
 tt Hist, of Disc, as above, iii. 191. See also Modern Universal History (1781) vol. vi. p. 202, and 
 Purchas, v. 502 and 514. 
 
214 NOTES ON THE INTERCOURSE OF THE BURMESE COUNTRIES WITH 
 
 states. He soon conquered Tavoy, and proceeded to besiege Tenasserim. Here Chris- 
 topher Rebello, an outlaw from Cochin, with forty Portuguese and seventy slaves, in four 
 galliots, attacked and routed the Burmese flotilla of 500 vessels.* 
 
 A short time afterwards the King of Ava, fearing the vengeance of the Portuguese, 
 should they unite with his rivals of Aracan and Siam, sent ambassadors (to Goa apparently) 
 to the Portuguese Viceroy, to apologise for the killing of de Brito, and offering to join in 
 an attack on Aracan. The Viceroy agreed, and sent an envoy in turn, but he was treated 
 with true Burman nonchalance, and nothing resulted, f 
 
 Though Mr. Fitch, and possibly other wandering English merchants, had visited Pegu 
 in the preceding century, no English convoy had at that time come to the Indian seas for 
 trade. The East India Company was first established in 1599, when Pegu was in the 
 depths of its desolation. Hence, though our trade had spread far to the eastward, no 
 attempt at intercourse with the Irawadi delta had taken place up to 1618. Curiously 
 enough, the first intercourse originated from the eastward. A year or two before the 
 period named, the English factor at Siam, Lucas Anthonison by name, sent one Thomas 
 Samuel to Zengomay (Zimme),} to inquire into the prospects of trade there. Zimme had 
 been subject to the great King of Pegu, but, during the misfortunes of that monarchy in his 
 son's time, had been taken by the Siamese. The King of Ava, whose power had risen, as 
 we have seen, on the fall of Pegu, and who was extending his conquests over most of the 
 provinces that had been subject to the latter, obtained possession of Zimme whilst Samuel 
 was there, and carried him, with other foreigners, to Pegu. There he died, and his pro- 
 perty was seized by the King. 
 
 The relator, William Methold, in the supplement to Purchas's Pilgrims, calls the 
 monarch King of Pegu, and at Pegu he appears to have held his court But he was, in 
 fact, properly the King of Ava. 
 
 News was brought of Samuel's death to Masulipatam, where Lucas Anthonison hap- 
 pened now to be factor for the Company. He took the opportunity of sending two agents, 
 carrying a letter and present for the King, professedly to apply for the restoration of 
 Samuel's effects, but also with a small adventure to make trial of the trade. 
 
 The agents were unfaithful. They misappropriated the proceeds of the trade, and 
 wrote most discouraging accounts of their treatment. But they were sent back in April 
 1619, with most of Samuel's property, as well as a present from the King and a letter 
 inviting trade. § 
 
 The history at this period is very obscure, but it would appear that soon after the time 
 mentioned, British intercourse with the Burman countries became more free than it ever 
 was again up to the annexation of Pegu. Dalrymple ascertained, from old documents at 
 Fort St. George, that the English had settlements j| at Prome and Ava, as well as at 
 Sirian, and even at a place on the borders of China, which he conjectures to have been 
 
 * Hist, of Disc, as above, iii. p. 197. t Ibid. p. 255. 
 
 X Called by the Siamese, Chang-mai ; Xieng-mai of Sir John Bowring. 
 § Methold in Purchas, v. 1006. 
 
 || He says, at the beginning of the seventeenth century. But it could not have been earlier than the 
 circumstances mentioned by Methold. 
 
WESTERN NATIONS, UP TO THE PEACE OF TANDABO. 215 
 
 Bamo.* The Dutch, who had a considerable trade with Burma, likewise possessed 
 factories in the Upper Provinces, and are said also to have been at this time in occupation 
 of Negrais. 
 
 On some dispute with the Burmese Government, the Dutch threatened, or attempted, 
 to invite the interference of the Chinese. On this, both Dutch and English were ejected.f 
 
 In 1658, or 1659, when a Chinese force invaded Burma, and attacked the capital, the 
 guns on the ramparts of Ava are said to have been served by a party of native Christians 
 under a foreigner named Mithari Kdtan, a name which Col. Burney happily suggests to be 
 intended for " Mr. Cotton."J 
 
 The trade seems to have revived towards the end of the century. In 1680 and 1684 
 the Company's agents had made unsuccessful attempts to re-establish factories in Burma or 
 Pegu. In 1686-7 their attention was turned to Negrais; a survey was made of the 
 island, and it was taken nominal possession of. 
 
 In 1695 Nathaniel Higginson, Governor of Fort St George, sent Mr. Edwa rdFleet- 
 wood and Capt. James Lesley as Envoys to the court of Ava. Their objects were to 
 obtain the settlement of a factory at Sirian, the release of English captives, and of a sloop 
 belonging to one Bartholomew Rodriguez, which had been confiscated, and the restoration 
 of the effects of one Adrian Tilbury, a merchant of Fort St. George, who had died at 
 Martaban. 
 
 They carried presents to the amount of about 1000 pagodas, and a letter from Governor 
 Higginson, written in a very humble style. The presents were a regular mercantile 
 speculation. The Envoys were to try to get as much as possible in return, " asking for 
 more " if they found it feasible, and were themselves to get ten per cent on the proceeds 
 as an incitement to do their best.§ 
 
 Mr. Fleetwood does not appear to have been a gentleman likely either to impress the 
 Burmese court with an exalted idea of his country, or to bring back with him any 
 interesting particulars of theirs. He seemed to think he had made a great coup in 
 providing himself with a letter of introduction to the King's mistress. The Mission had as 
 little success as it deserved under such auspices, but the re-establishment of the factory at 
 Sirian was conceded. Two years later (1697) Mr. Bowyear was sent as chief of the factory 
 at Sirian, and was charged with a mission to the court similar in its objects to Fleetwood's. 
 It appears from the instructions that the return-presents made to Fleetwood's Mission had 
 
 * Dr. Bayfield, when at Bam6 in 1837, heard of the remains of an old brick building of unknown 
 origin as existing at Old Bam6, between one and two days' journey from the present city. This he con- 
 jectured might be the British factory ; but the disturbed state of the country prevented his visiting the 
 spot. 
 
 f This is Dalrymple's account. I find, however, in Valentyn's great Beschryving van Oost Indien, 
 or description of the Dutch East Indies (Dordrecht and Amsterdam, 1726), vol. v. pt. ii. p. 126, that the 
 Dutch had a factory at Sirian from about 1631 till 1677, with subordinate factories at Ava and other 
 places. The Dutch Government of Coromandel sent several embassies to Ava also. Valentyn ascribes 
 the breaking up of the trade to the constant wars that were going on in those regions. 
 
 % Jour. As. Soc. Ben. vi. 126. 
 
 § Higginson's Instructions to Fleetwood. In Dalrymple's Oriental Repertory, ii. p. 337 et seq. 
 
216 NOTES ON THE INTERCOURSE OF THE BURMESE COUNTRIES WITH 
 
 been profitable to Mr. Higginson, and be was not indisposed to repeat the speculation. 
 But he honourably adds, " If the returns of the present shall stand in competition with, or 
 hinder, the restoring of Bartholomew Rodriguez his cargo, I had rather forego the receiving 
 of any returns for the present, than hinder the restoration of the cargo." No record of 
 Bowyear's mission has been found, and it is probable that he did not proceed to Ava, as 
 the King died just after his arrival in the country.* 
 
 In 1709 a Mr. Richard Alison, or Allanson, was sent as envoy to Ava. No account 
 of his Mission has ever been printed. It appears from Hamilton's " New Account of the 
 East Indies "f that this gentleman was twice deputed to the court of Ava. But the date 
 of his other Mission is unknown. From this point I shall content myself mainly with a 
 brief note of events, as the remaining history of British intercourse with Burma has been 
 fully related in a very able and interesting paper by Dr. Bayfield, which is printed in the 
 Appendix to Pemberton's Report on the Eastern Frontier. J 
 
 The agent of the Company at Sirian, Mr. Smart, appears to have acted with duplicity 
 during the contests of the Burmese and Peguans for the possession of Pegu, which ended 
 in the temporary supremacy of the latter. In 1743 the factory was burnt by them, and 
 the establishment was withdrawn. 
 
 In 1752 the King of Tavoy, then for a short time independent, invited an establish- 
 ment. But his terms were unreasonable, and no movement was made to act on his 
 offer. 
 
 In 1753 a factory was established on the Negrais, which was, in fact, taken possession of 
 in the Company's name. 
 
 In 1755 we find a factory under Captain Baker existing at Negrais, during the con- 
 tinued contests between Peguans and Burmese, the latter being again in the ascendant. 
 The chief at Negrais urged on his Government that we should take a decided part with 
 the Burmans. But, about the same time, some English ships at Dagon (Rangoon) took 
 part with the Peguans. 
 
 In July of this year Capt. Baker and Lieut. North (who died at Pagan on the way up) 
 were sent by the Resident at Negrais on an embassy to Alompra at Mout-shobo. The 
 usurper laughed at the idea of assistance from the English, and the Mission had no result. 
 Capt. Baker took observations on his way, and made a map of the river, which is given by 
 Dalrymple. 
 
 In 1751 Dupleix, the Governor-general of French India, had sent an ambassador to 
 the King of Pegu, and obtained the concession of a factory at Sirian. But, in 1756, the 
 
 * Bayfield ; see below. 
 
 t Edinburgh, 1727, vol. ii. 
 
 J " Historical Review of the Political Eelations between the British Government in India and the 
 Empire of Ava, from the earliest date on record to the present year ; compiled by G. T. Bayfield, acting- 
 assistant to the Resident in Ava, and revised by Lt.-Col. Burney. Ava, 15th December, 1834." 
 
 For the facts of the remaining history I have made free use of this review. The original authorities 
 arc, for the times of Alompra, Dalrymple's Oriental Repertory; for Symes's first Mission and Crawfurd's, 
 their published narratives ; for the other Missions, the original papers in the records of the Indian 
 Government. Where I have used other authorities they are referred to. 
 
WESTERN NATIONS, UP TO THE PEACE OF YANDABO. 217 
 
 Government of Pondicherry, contrary to an engagement of neutrality into which the 
 factory had entered with Alompra, having sent succours to the Peguans, and these having 
 fallen into the hands of the conqueror, he massacred the officers, and carried the rest of the 
 French as prisoners to Ava.* From these prisoners some of the Burman Christians of the 
 Dibayen district are said to he descended. 
 
 In 1757 Alompra addressed a letter to the King of England, written on gold adorned 
 with rubies, which he delivered to a Mr. Dyer and others who visited him at Rangoon. It 
 is not known what became of this letter. 
 
 In June of the same year Lieut. Newton, who was in charge of Negrais, deputed 
 Ensign Lister to go to the King with the pompous title of Ambassador Extraordinary. He 
 overtook Alompra on his way up the river from Rangoon, and by dint of some considerable 
 bribery, obtained the King's signature to a treaty conceding in perpetuity Negrais, and 
 ground for a factory at Bassein, with freedom of trade, in return for a pledge of military 
 assistance from the Company against the King's enemies. This treaty had never any 
 practical effect. 
 
 1759. — The greater part of the establishment at Negrais was withdrawn. And on the 
 6th October in that year the whole of the remaining Europeans, with many natives, were 
 treacherously massacred by the Burmese. The King was said to have suspected that the 
 factory had been in communication with his enemies, the Peguans. f 
 
 In 1760 Captain Alves was sent with letters and presents from Holwell, Governor of 
 Port William, and Pigot, Governor of Madras, to demand satisfaction for the massacre, 
 and liberty for the prisoners. Alompra had died on his Siamese expedition a few months 
 before Capt. Alves' arrival at Ava. He found the city in rebellion, and the new King 
 besieging it He was plundered and otherwise shamelessly treated. The prisoners were 
 released, but the idea of satisfaction was scouted, and Ensign Lister's treaty was 
 ignored. 
 
 The factory at Bassein was never re-established, but one appears to have been kept up 
 at Rangoon, at least till 1782. 
 
 In 1769 the French East India Company sent an envoy to the court of Alompra's 
 son, Senphyoo-yen,J with the view of re-establishing their trade. They obtained from 
 the King the grant of a factory and other privileges, but these concessions were never 
 acted on.§ 
 
 * Sonnerat, Vogage au.v Indes Orientales. Paris 1806, iii. 5. 
 
 t On the shore of the mainland, close to the north of Negrais, is now being laid out the new Port of 
 Dalhousie. " The whirligig of time has brought about its revenges. The kingdom of Pegu, which the 
 rough hunter conquered, has passed from his house to the hands of that power whose servants he 
 treacherously slew ; and the city that will rise on the site of his crime will borrow a name from the 
 woody dells of Esk." — BlaclcwoocCs Magazine, May 1856. 
 
 \ Called by Sonnerat " Zekin-m6dou," the Shembuan of Symes. 
 
 § Sonnerat, as above, p. 8. This author, whose voyages took place between 1774 and 1781, has a 
 dissertation on the advantages of taking possession of Pegu, for which he calculates that 1000 or 1200 
 Europeans would suffice, as the Peguans would join them. He commences, prophetically, " II est certain 
 que les Anglais chercheront un jour a s'emparer du Pegu." — iii. p. 60. 
 
 F F 
 
218 NOTES ON THE INTERCOURSE OF THE BURMESE COUNTRIES WITH 
 
 1794. — The Burmese, who had conquered Aracan in 1783, began to make insolent and 
 threatening demonstrations on the Chittagong frontier ; and it was known that the 
 French were directing their attention to Burma as a good fulcrum for attack or intrigue 
 against British India. For these and other reasons, the Governor-general (Sir J. Shore) 
 deputed an embassy to Ava under Captain Michael Symes, of His Majesty's 74th 
 Regiment. 
 
 It cannot be said that this Mission was treated with, much respect, or advanced the 
 estimation of the British power among the Burmans. Captain Symes was treated as the 
 Envoy of an inferior power, and was undoubtedly himself imposed on by Burmese pre- 
 tensions. The whole colouring of his narrative tends to leave a very exaggerated impres- 
 sion of the civilisation and magnificence of the Burmese empire. 
 
 In 1796, in accordance with the permission conceded in the document given to Capt. 
 Symes, Capt. Hiram Cox was sent to act as Resident at Rangoon on the part of the Govern- 
 ment of India. He had charge of some articles which the King had commissioned through 
 Symes. But he was not to proceed to court, unless summoned. 
 
 He was summoned, and reached Amarapoora in January 1797. There, or in its 
 neighbourhood, he remained during nine weary months, bearing with singular patience 
 : every kind of slight, indignity, and imposition, the history of which it is quite painful to 
 read. In October he returned to Rangoon, and in Februarj- he was re-called by the 
 Government, who (misled perhaps by the impression that Symes had given) intimated their 
 opinion that the conduct of the court must have indicated personal dissatisfaction with Capt. 
 Cox. And the King and his ministers were addressed, notifying Cox's recall, and offering 
 to appoint another gentleman in whom the Vice-president had the greatest confidence, 
 should His Majesty desire it. 
 
 Captain Cox's private journal was published in 1821, some years after his death. 
 
 Several insolent communications were in the following years received from the Viceroy 
 of Rangoon and the Governor of Aracan, and in 
 
 1802, Capt. (now Col.) Symes was sent again by Lord Wellesley. His Mission was 
 attended by an escort of 100 sepoys, and equipped in a style characteristic of the great 
 pro -consul. He was to seek a treaty of alliance, the cessation of extortionate exactions on 
 trade, the establishment of a Resident at court and of a Consul at Rangoon, and to claim 
 Negrais, or compensating commercial advantages. 
 
 The Mission was a total failure. The Envoy was treated for three months with the 
 most mortifying neglect and deliberate insult, and at last quitted without an audience of 
 leave. It is not to be wondered at that the Colonel published no narrative of his second 
 Mission. 
 
 In May, 1803, the apprehension of French intrigue in Burma again induced the 
 / Government to send Lieut. Canning as agent to Rangoon. But in consequence of the 
 insolent violence of the Ye-woon, who was in charge of the Government there, and insisted 
 on opening all letters, Lieut. Canning judged it best to return in November. 
 
 In 1804 an outrage was perpetrated on a British ship from Penang, which put into 
 Bassein for wood and water. No notice was taken of this. 
 
WESTERN NATIONS, UP TO THE PEACE OF TANDABO. 219 
 
 1809. — Capt. Canning was despatched as agent to Rangoon, with the special view of 
 explaining to the Burmese the nature of our blockade-system, which was then enforced on 
 the French Isles, to protect British interests, and to watch the progress of the French in 
 Burma. 
 
 He proceeded to Amarapoora at the King's desire. He met with much better treat- 
 ment than either of the two last Missions to the court, and the explanation, which was the 
 main object of his Mission, was effected. But he did not leave without receiving from the 
 Woongyis two most impertinent letters to the Governor-general. 
 
 1811. — This year commenced those disturbed relations on the Aracan frontier, which 
 eventually led to the war of 1824. A native of Aracan, called King Berring, or Khyen- 
 bran, embodied a number of followers within our territory, and invaded Aracan. In 
 September Capt. Canning was sent to give explanations on this matter, and to complain of 
 the conduct of the Governor of Rangoon towards British trade. Whilst he was still at 
 Rangoon, a gross violation of our territory was committed by the Governor of Aracan. 
 Additional instructions were sent to Canning to complain of this, and to demand the 
 withdrawal of the Burmese troops from the frontier. In consequence of a repetition of the 
 offence he was recalled, whilst repeated orders came from Amarapoora to send him to 
 court, by force if necessary. He depatched the presents, but returned to Bengal in 
 August 
 
 This was the last Mission up to the breaking out of war in 1824. It is not neces- 
 sary to follow here the repeated and complicated encroachments and provocations which led 
 to that event. War was declared on-the 5th March, 1824, and the peace of Yandabo was 
 signed on the 24th February, 1826. 
 
220 NOTICES OF THE HISTORY OF BURMA FROM THE PEACE 
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 NOTICES OF THE HISTORY OF BURMA FROM THE PEACE OF YANDABO (1826) TO THE REVOLUTION 
 
 OF 1853. 
 
 Genealogical Table of the Dynasty from Alompra to the Eeigning Prince — Acme of the Burman 
 Dominion in 1824 — Treaty of Yandabo — Crawfurd's Mission — Burmese Embassy to Calcutta in 
 1827 — Major Henry Burney sent as Resident to Ava (1830) — Reciprocal Mission to Bengal — State 
 of the Court during Burney's Residence — The King's Character — The Queen and Her Brother 
 Menthagyi — The King's melancholy Madness — His Treatment of his Ministers — His Extravagance 
 — The Starving Lion — The Prince of Tharawadi — The Crisis — Tharawadi successfully rebels — Be- 
 comes King — His violent Conduct — Burney departs — Harsh Judgment of Burney by Lord 
 Auckland's Government — Execution of the Ex-King's Son, the Queen, and her Brother — Colonel 
 Benson sent as Resident — Treated with every Annoyance and Neglect — He departs — Captain 
 Macleod Acting Resident — Revolt in Pegu and barbarous Executions — The Great Earthquake of 
 1839 — Macleod withdraws to Rangoon — Quits the Country — The King's menacing Conduct — His 
 Insanity — Anecdotes of Him — He is put under Restraint — His Death — Succession of the Prince 
 of Pagan — His Initiatory Cruelties — Brutality and Debauchery — His Wicked Favourites — Their 
 Oppressions and Downfall — The War of 1852 — The Prince of Mendoon flies from the Capital and 
 Revolts — Treatment of the Christian Prisoners in 1852 — The Prince's Troops invest the City — It 
 is surrendered, and the Prince assumes the Throne — His Coronation — He marries his Half-sister — 
 Ancient Hindoo Customs at the Burman Court. 
 
 The genealogical table on the following page exhibits the descent and succession of the 
 Kings of Burma, from Alompra, the founder of the existing dynasty. 
 
 Some of the leading facts in the previous history of the Burmese countries will be found 
 incidentally noticed in the note upon foreign intercourse with those regions. The object 
 of the present chapter is to furnish a sketch of events at Ava, from the termination of the 
 first war to the revolution which placed the present Sovereign on the throne of a con- 
 tracted empire. 
 
 As with the Nepalese, and some other Indian powers, the empire of the Burmese 
 Princes had just expanded to the widest limits known in their history, when it came into 
 contact with British bayonets, and rapid collapse ensued. Thirty years have sufficed to 
 strip them of dominions which had been the gradual acquisition of more than two cen- 
 turies. 1824 saw the weak grandson of old Mentaragyi ruling over a territory that 
 extended from Gowhati and the frontiers of the old British district of Rungpoor, to the 
 great river of Cambodia eastward, and to the Island of Junk-Ceylon southward, embracing 
 altogether an extreme width of 800 miles, an extreme length of 1200 miles, and a sea- 
 board of equal extent. 1854 saw- the Burmese confines reduced nearly as low as they had 
 been in the centuries of decay that succeeded the fall of the Pagan dynasties, and without 
 access to the sea, except through many leagues of British territory. 
 
OF TANDABO (1826) TO THE REVOLUTION OF 1853. 
 
 221 
 
 I. 
 
 Aong-zaya, or 
 
 ALOMPRA. 
 
 Died 1760. 
 
 II. | 
 
 Upa-yaja,* or 
 
 NOUNGDAU-GYI. 
 
 Died 1763. 
 
 III. 
 
 TSHEN-BYO-YEN 
 
 (Shembuan of Symes). 
 
 Died 1776. 
 
 ■v. 
 
 V. 
 
 Paoungka-tsa, or 
 
 MOUNG-MEN 
 
 (Momien of Syrnes). 
 
 Murdered 1781. 
 
 TSENGOO-MEN 
 
 (Chcnguza of Syrnes). 
 
 Hilled 1781. 
 
 VI. 
 
 Bhadoun-Thekeng, or 
 
 BHODAU-PHRA, 
 
 or MENTARAGYI, 
 
 (Minderawji Praw of Symes). 
 
 Died 1819. 
 
 Ein-She-men 
 
 (or Crown Prince) 
 
 (Engy-Tekien of Symes). 
 
 Died before his father. 
 
 Pag&n-Men = Daughter of 
 Tsengoo-men. 
 
 VII. 
 
 Padoung-men 
 
 PHAGYI-DAU 
 
 called also Noungdaugyi). 
 
 Dethroned 1837. 
 
 Died 1845. 
 
 Tsakya-men, put 
 
 to death by 
 Tharawadi, 1838. 
 
 VIII. 
 
 Koonboung-men, or = Daughter (The 
 THARAWADI. present 
 
 Died 1846. Queen Dowager). 
 
 X. 
 
 The present Mendoon-Mcn = Tsoo-phragyi married 
 
 Ein-Sh6-Men. THE KING. her half-brother the 
 
 King in 1853. 
 
 IX. 
 
 Pagcin-men 
 
 THE EX-KINO. 
 
 Deposed 1853. 
 
 * Called by some of the writers in Dalrymple's Repertory, euphonim causA, " Upper Roger." The 
 appellation is taken from the Sub-King of the ancient Hindoo monarchies, Upa-raja, or Yuva-raja. — 
 Sans. The names with Roman numerals are those of the Kings. 
 
222 NOTICES OF THE HISTORY OF BURMA FROM THE PEACE 
 
 By the Treaty of Yandabo, Aracan and Tenasserim became British provinces. Among 
 the articles, there was a stipulation that each state should have the right of maintaining a 
 Resident with his escort at the court of the other ; and it was provided, also, that a com- 
 mercial treaty should be the subject of subsequent negotiation. 
 
 In September 1826 Mr. Crawfurd, the distinguished historian of the Indian Archipe- 
 lago, who was then Civil Commissioner at Rangoon, proceeded to Ava as Envoy, to nego- 
 tiate the commercial treaty. The arrogance of the nation had already, with marvellous 
 elasticity, recovered all its old exorbitance. Though the Envoy experienced none of the 
 personal insolence to which most of his predecessors had been subjected, many official imper- 
 tinences, covert or open, were offered to the Mission and the Government which it repre- 
 sented. The Envoy was presented to the King on a kodau, or "beg-pardon" day, and no 
 reply was vouchsafed by his Majesty to the Governor-general's letter. Mr. Crawfurd 
 appears to have been rendered weary, hopeless, and disgusted, by the arrogance and 
 impracticability of the Burmese ministers, and at last contented himself with accepting 
 
 such a treaty as the Burmese deigned to bestow. It was of no great value, and was 
 
 scarcely made ere they attempted to infringe it. The admirable work on Burma, which 
 Mr. Crawfurd published after his return to England, was probably of much greater worth 
 than the treaty. 
 
 In March 1827 a Burmese embassy came to Calcutta. Their principal object was to 
 obtain the postponement of the outstanding half of the tribute. But they were referred at 
 once to Sir Archibald Campbell, at Maulmain. 
 
 The fourth instalment of the tribute continued unpaid in 1830, when the Government, 
 in spite of the warning which they had received from the sagacity of Mr. Crawfurd, deter- 
 mined on sending Major Henry Burney, an officer who had acquitted himself with great 
 credit on a Mission to Siam, and in other duties in Malacca and Tenasserim, to reside at the 
 Court of Ava, in terms of the stipulation in the 4th article of the Treaty of Yandabo. 
 The Resident reached Ava in April. 
 
 In October of the same year, the Burmese despatched a reciprocal Mission to Calcutta. 
 These Envoys were nearly three years absent, and visited the upper provinces to meet Lord 
 William Bentinck. 
 
 It was not without great difficulty, and the patient overthrow of boundless chicanery, « 
 that the last instalment of the tribute was wrung from the Burmese Government. It was, 
 however, completed at last, in October 1832, and even a small overplus* was found to 
 have been received, and was duly returned. 
 
 Major Burney, during his residence at Ava, which extended (with some interruptions 
 from ill-health) from April 1830 to June 1837, obtained considerable personal influence 
 over the ministers, which was always exercised for good. But his own growing and often- 
 expressed conviction seems to have been unfavourable to the utility of maintaining per- 
 manently a British Resident among the Burmese, as producing, with a Government so 
 blind and perverse, too many occasions of contact and irritation. At first he appears to 
 
 * Sa. Bs. 14,000. 
 
OF YANDABO (l826) TO THE REVOLUTION OF 1853. 223 
 
 have entertained the hope of obtaining the personal regard of the King, of being admitted 
 familiarly to his levees, and of thus being able constantly to exercise a beneficial influence : 
 but circumstances were unfavourable. The then King nf Burma, Phagyi-dau, or 
 Noungdaugyi (" Royal Elder Brother") as he is now most commonly called, a man of about 
 forty-seven or forty-eight years of age, was popular among his subjects at the capital, on 
 account of his partiality for the public amusements, the shows, boat-races, and fetes, in 
 which they so much delight,* and he had the reputation of good nature, accessibility, and 
 unwillingness to shed blood. But he was without ability or strength of character, restless, 
 childless, arrogant, and violent. The ministers never dared to bring an unpleasant subject 
 plainly before him, and he often vented his displeasure on even the chief among them by 
 flinging his spear, Saul-like, in open court, or by inflicting on them the most degrading 
 punishments.! He felt bitterly the loss of his provinces, never could bear to confess even 
 the equality of the British Government to his own, and viewed the presence of the Resi- 
 dent with jealousy and aversion, as that of a dictator and a spy.J Ever since he came to 
 the throne, and even before that, an extraordinary influence over him had been wielded by 
 his chief Queen, a woman of low origin, and of age at least equal to his own, but who 
 spared no pains by the most assiduous devotion to keep up that influence which her fasci- 
 nations had originally acquired. In earlier years she had been commonly known among 
 the King's relations as " the sorceress." Her power was shared by her brother, known as 
 Menthagyi (Great Prince), once a fishmonger, a man of considerable intelligence, and when 
 he chose, of unusually dignified manners for a Burman, but superstitious, cowardly, brutal,§ 
 and grasping beyond all bounds. 
 
 The Sakya-men, the King's only son, born by a deceased Queen of royal blood, was a 
 lad of about eighteen at the time of Burney's arrival ; but he was then, and continued to be 
 throughout his father's reign, kept completely in the back-ground by his step-mother. 
 
 * One of his favourite amusements was riding pony-races with his attendants in the streets before 
 the Palace. 
 
 t Such as, placing them fettered in the common gaol for the night ; or spreading them out all day 
 on their backs in the hot sun with a heavy weight on the chest. (See Craufurd, p. 287.) Mr. Howard 
 Malcolm mentions, that just before ho was at Ava the King had forty of his highest officers spread out in 
 the public street beforetho Palace wall, and kept for hours under a broiling sun with a heavy beam 
 across their bodies. (Travels, i. 249.) 
 
 I The Burmese probably looked on the office of the Resident as too strongly analogous to that of the 
 Tsitkes whom they maintain at the courts of the tributary Shan princes. 
 
 § There is a curious story in Judson's Life pf Menthagyi's superstition and cruelty. Some foreigner 
 had given the King a lion, an animal much talked of by the Burmans but perhaps never seen before. 
 During the successful advance of Sir Archibald Campbell it struck Menthagyi, who had heard of the 
 " British lion," that there was some mysterious complicity between the Royal beast and the victorious 
 enemy. He persuaded the King, accordingly, to send the lion to the death-prison (where the Christian 
 prisoners were then confined), and to have him there starved to death. " The unhappy prisoners had 
 seen men starved, and beaten, and smothered, and strangled to death, then dragged from the door and 
 thrust like dogs into some shallow pit, or left for wild dogs to devour ; and they thought they had 
 gained a fearful familiarity with every species of wretchedness. But there was something almost super- 
 natural in this new horror — a gradually starving lion." After the lion's death, Judson, who had fever, 
 was allowed to remove to the empty cage. {Life, i. 312.) 
 
224 NOTICES OF THE HISTORY OF BURMA FROM THE PEACE 
 
 Menthagyi was looked on as a chief prince of the empire ; and though affecting deference to 
 the Woongyis, was really the ruler of the Hlwotdau. He and his sister were the leaders 
 of the war-party in 1824-26, and no part of the loss or suffering which it occasioned fell upon 
 them. They had contrived to appropriate much of the treasure left behind by old Men- 
 taragyi ; and a large part of the exactions wrung from the people on the pretext of the 
 Yandabo tribute found its way into their coffers.* 
 
 The King had been subject to occasional melancholy or hypochondria, and in 1831 
 these fits assumed an aggravated form approaching to insanity. They continued to recur 
 throughout the remainder of his reign ; he ceased to take any part or interest in public 
 business, and the rule of the kingdom was thrown more and more into the hands of the 
 Queen and her brother. Nearly all the provincial governments and offices were filled by 
 their creatures ; and it was supposed, that in the event of the King's death their enormous 
 wealth and influence would be employed to establish themselves permanently in power. 
 
 These two persons were naturally viewed with great discontent and hatred by all the 
 princes of the blood, towards whom they latterly exercised no pretence of delicacy or 
 deference, and especially by the Prince of Tharawadi, the King's own brother, and who 
 had, till the King's illness, enjoyed his confidence and affection. As a Prince, Tharawadi, 
 who had great tact and winning manners, was looked on as a man of liberality and intelli- 
 gence, with some partiality for Europeans and appreciation of their knowledge ; but his 
 temper was violent, and he was addicted to gambling, drinking, and low society. He had 
 a large appanage ; and though he latterly withdrew from almost all intercourse with the court 
 and ministers, and all attempt to participate in the business of the state, it was believed that 
 for some years he had been collecting arms and gathering followers round him. It was sup- 
 posed that he had no designs hostile to his brother, but that he was preparing for the con- 
 tingency of the latter's death, and the part that he might then have to play. He was a 
 favourite of the people, on account of his carelessness as to money and supposed liberality 
 of disposition, and whatever public feeling there might be was in his favour. 
 
 In the spring of 1837 things came to a crisis. On a certain occasion, the ministers 
 under the influence of Menthagyi ordered a military force to search the house of the Tha- 
 rawadi Prince for a desperado, who was reported to be secreted there. The Prince's 
 people having first driven off the assailants with disgrace, he fled, with his partisans, across 
 the river to Sagain, and thence to Mout-shobo. This was on the 24th February, 1837. 
 
 From Mout-shobo, Tharawadi sent out his emissaries in all directions to stir up discon- 
 tent, or (in his own words to Burney) " to set all the country a-boiling and a-bubbling." 
 
 A large rabble army of such as flocked to David at Adullam gathered rapidly to his 
 standard. Thousands of men were hastily collected by the alarmed Government, and sent 
 against the Prince; but they had no stomach for fighting in that cause, and speedily 
 dwindled away. 
 
 * Much also that was not appropriated by them was squandered by the court in the most childish 
 extravagance. At the very time when the court needed to be so hard pressed by the Resident to make 
 good the payment, vast sums were thrown away in excavating from the Tsagyen quarries and bringing 
 to Ava a monstrous block of marble, and converting it into an image of Gautama. 
 
OF YANDABO (l826) TO THE EEVOLTJTION OF 1853. 225 
 
 Burney's timely counsel had been neglected when it might yet have saved the Govern- 
 ment ; and it was too late when they at last declared themselves dependent on him alone for 
 counsel and assistance. Though in shattered health, he undertook to go to Mout-shobo, to 
 bring the Prince to terms. But the time was past. Tharawadi listened to him, but was now 
 confident of success, and scouted compromise ; and the bandits who surrounded him were 
 hot for the plunder of the city. 
 
 This sack was, however, averted by the Resident's exertions, which extorted a pledge 
 from Tharawadi that the city should be spared and no life sacrificed, if the ministers would 
 surrender. .Early in April the city and all the ministers and princes were in the hands 
 of the insurgents. Tharawadi at first called himself only King of Yatanathainga, or of 
 Koonboung* (both, I believe, names of Mout-shobo) ; but at the end of a month he pro- 
 claimed that his brother had resigned the sovereignty into his hands, and he took possession 
 of the Palace. 
 
 The new King's head was turned and his heart hardened by his easy success. He was 
 surrounded by violent and ignorant ruffians, many of whom had been notorious robbers. 
 Numerous and barbarous executions took place in defiance of the pledge which Bumey 
 had extorted. The whole country was presently in anarchy, and no business was attended 
 to by the party now in power, but that of sacking and plundering the deposed King's 
 officers and their adherents. The King himself, though he generally treated the Resident 
 with personal kindness, hated the check of his presence, and was irritated by his manly and 
 humane remonstrances. He spoke habitually in public with contempt of the British 
 Government, and disclaimed all obligation to observe the treaties made by his brother's 
 Government 
 
 In June, the King, who had vowed to make Ava a heap of ruins, left the city in charge 
 of Moung Thoung Bo, a notorious robber, and proceeded up the Irawadi to Kyouk-myoung, 
 carrying with him the whole court, a large part of the population, the ex-King and Queen, 
 and the wretched Menthagyi. 
 
 For many days this quondam Caesar and many others, ex-ministers, had lain in the 
 stocks, dependent on the British Resident for the daily bread which their relatives dared 
 not supply. The daughters of Menthagyi were forced to beg through the town for money 
 to hire a boat to carry their father and his fellow-prisoners ; and the eldest, to whom one 
 of the new King's sons had once been a rejected suitor, was said to have been subjected by 
 the King's order to worse indignity. 
 
 From the commencement of the revolution, Col. Bumey had judged that no good 
 could come of his remaining. And now, in the state of the King's temper, it could only 
 lead to collision between the Governments, or to disgraceful submission to insult. Indeed, 
 the King refused to allow the Residency to accompany him to Kyouk-myoung, or to allow 
 the treaties or the Governor-general to be referred to in his hearing, and Ava was now no 
 place for it to remain at. He withdrew, therefore, but partly on a genuine plea of ill- 
 health, to Rangoon, and eventually to Calcutta and England. 
 
 * Koonboung-men appears to have become tbe historical name of Tharawadi. 
 
 G G 
 
226 NOTICES OF THE HISTOUY OF BURMA FROM THE PEACE 
 
 Lord Auckland, whose thoughts were already turned to that very different stage on 
 which the next few years were to witness so disastrous a history, seems to have regarded 
 with impatience the prospect of embroilment in a Burmese quarrel. Perhaps there may 
 have been irritation from previous differences of opinion, which Burney always expressed 
 honestly. The Government disapproved of his withdrawal of the Residency, condemned 
 many parts of his proceedings during these critical events with no little harshness, and 
 passed over with cold and slight acknowledgment his exertions and great services in the 
 cause of humanity. In such trying circumstances, and among such a trying people, he 
 may have committed some errors. But his great merits, and the virtuous energy which 
 had mitigated the horrors of a savage revolution, and saved a great city from fire and sack, 
 deserved a better recompense. 
 
 The King, after several months' residence at Kyouk-myoung, where he had purposed 
 to establish his capital, abandoned that whim and returned to Amarapoora, which he 
 proceeded to re-occupy. 
 
 About the time of his return from Kyouk-myoung, an accusation of meditated treason, 
 concocted by the King's debauchee sons, the Princes of Pakhan and Prome, was brought 
 against the Tsakya-Men, the deposed Monarch's only son, who had always looked up to 
 his uncle as a friend and protector, and he was put to death, with his entire household. 
 The wretched Queen and her brother were spared for more than two years longer ; and 
 then, on the pretext of a revolt in the Shan countries, were put to death with a number of 
 their followers, under circumstances of horrid barbarity.* 
 
 The ex-King was spared, at first, it was said, through superstitious fears instilled into 
 Tharawadi's mind by his eldest daughter, an adept in astrology. This astrological lady is 
 now the chief Queen of the reigning sovereign. Tharawadi appears afterwards to have 
 treated his brother with kindness and consideration; and it was even rumoured at one 
 time that he had invited him to resume the crown. The elder brother lived at least 
 to the middle of 1845 ; but I believe he died before Tharawadi's own seclusion from 
 power. 
 
 In the middle of 1838, the Government endeavoured to repair what they considered 
 Burney's error, by replacing a Resident at the court of Ava ; and Col. Benson was despatched 
 in that capacity, with costly presents to the King. The Mission was, however, a total 
 failure. 
 
 The new Resident was treated with annoyance and disparagement all the way up the 
 river; was received at Kyouk-taloung by some low western adventurers holding no official 
 position, and, when he reached the capital, was wretchedly accommodated on a low pro- 
 montory, cut off from the town by a wide creek,f with no means of getting supplies, and 
 subject, as they found in course of time, to actual inundation. 
 
 Col. Benson, during his six months' residence, continued to be treated with marked 
 
 * Wilson's Narrative, p. 278. This circumstance has escaped me among the original papers. 
 
 f The site is that marked as Htayagyoon in the survey of the capital. Neither dealers, boatmen, nor 
 labourers would come to the Residency ; and when Mr. Edwards was sent to the ministers to obtain 
 assistance, he was told that it was not proper to make representations about such trifling matters. 
 
OF YANDABO (l826) TO THE REVOLUTION OF 1853. 227 
 
 neglect and discourtesy, and was never received by the King. It seemed as if Tharawadi 
 was determined to maintain his views of the nullity of the Yandabo Treaty, and by his 
 contumelious treatment of the British Envoy to wipe out the disgrace of the war. Col. 
 Benson appears to have acted with spirit and temper; but in March 1839, sufferinc in 
 health, and disgusted with his useless and intolerable position, he returned to Bengal, more 
 warlike in his views and prognostications than ever Bumey had been. He left in charge 
 of the Residency Capt. Macleod, his assistant, who had long been employed on various 
 duties in Ava and Tenasserim. Capt. Macleod, with whom King Tharawadi had been 
 formerly acquainted, was favoured with an audience, but otherwise fared no better than 
 his chief. At last, when the flood-waters of the Irawadi were laving the floors of the 
 Residency, and the ministers continued to treat with contemptuous indifference his 
 applications for another abode, on the plea of ill-health he quitted the capital and returned 
 to Rangoon.* 
 
 In the beginning of the year, whilst Benson was still at Amarapoora, a revolt broke out 
 in the district of Hlain, near Rangoon, under the influence of a Perkin Warbeck, who per- 
 sonated the King's murdered nephew, the Tsakya-Men ; a personation which has since been 
 several times renewed. The pretender was captured and executed at the capital, whilst 
 cruel massacres took place in the offending district. The Myo-thoogyi of Hlain, with forty 
 or fifty of his connexions, men, women, and children, were penned in a bamboo house, and 
 set fire to,f or blown up with gunpowder. Others were subjected to more lingering agony. 
 Twisted straw was wound round their bodies, fire set to one end of the coil, and the poor 
 wretches thus consumed by inches.} 
 
 Another event that occurred during Capt. Macleod's residence at Amarapoora was the 
 memorable earthquake of the 23d March, 1839, which shattered every brick building in the 
 valley of Ava, and converted the great pile at Mengoon into the singular phenomenon 
 which I have described in Chapter VI. Repeated shocks occurred during the succeeding 
 months, one of which threw down the pillars of the new Palace then in process of erection 
 at Amarapoora. 
 
 Capt. Macleod continued to reside at Rangoon till January 1840, when he finally with- 
 drew the British Residency from Burmese territory. His remaining was of little utility ; 
 and yet there was no very definite ground for the final step. From that time till the first 
 visit of Commodore Lambert to Rangoon, in 1852, there was no attempt at intercourse 
 between the two Governments. 
 
 For a year or two, the King's violent and menacing conduct, surrounded as he con- 
 tinued to be by disreputable subjects and low foreigners, troubled the British Government 
 
 * King Tharawadi was amused at the success of his efforts to extinguish the residency, and thought 
 it an especially good joke that the Residents somehow always got ill. 
 
 t This wholesale torture is an old practice in Burma, and is mentioned by some of the travellers in 
 Purchas. It was the fate anticipated by Judson and the other captives when driven out to Oungben-16, 
 in 1826. 
 
 I Commodore Lambert may or may not have plunged us into evitable war. Pegu may or may not 
 pay its expenses. But such atrocities as these are ended. 
 
228 NOTICES OF THE HISTORY OF BURMA FROM THE PEACE 
 
 every now and then with the apprehension of what they so much dreaded — a second 
 Burmese war. Especially was this the case in the latter part of 1841, when King Thara- 
 wadi visited Rangoon with his whole court ; a visit which had been preceded by a great 
 note of military preparation. The King was " letting I dare not, wait upon I would," but 
 he was not without a just sense of the British power, whatever might be his vaunts when 
 stimulated by pride, passion, and flattery. So in the end prudence, and probably the 
 King's impatience of everything like serious business, prevailed. 
 
 In spite of his caprices and insane cruelties, there must have been some attractive points 
 about this King, for he is still spoken of at Amarapoora with something of kindly remem- 
 brance. This, however, may have been in great measure the result of the terror and 
 hatred inspired by the more systematic and cold-blooded atrocities of the son who succeeded 
 him on the throne. Tharawadi was a man of more active habits than has been usual 
 among the Burmese Kings, and was fond of mechanical arts.* 
 
 As early as the period of his assumption of the throne, symptoms of insanity in Thara- 
 wadi's conduct had been noticed by Col. Burney. The shock occasioned by the explosion 
 of the powder magazine within the Palace walls, in the beginning of 1841, is said to have 
 further unsettled his mind. The ferocity which had been developed at the time of his first 
 success increased from year to year in conjunction with caprice and whimsical extravagances, 
 and occasionally broke out as unmistakable derangement. 
 
 A few anecdotes, noted from the recollection of residents in the country at the time, 
 will give an idea of the Burmese court under King Tharawadi. 
 
 In 1843, when Sir Charles Napier's campaign in Sindh was first heard of at Amarapoora, 
 the King remarked to an English merchant that he was on the best of terms with the 
 British, and that if the Government would only send ships to Rangoon, he would put a 
 thousand men on board every ship, to go and fight on our part in Sindh. " I want 
 nothing from Queen Victoria in return," he said, " except a small feather, or some such 
 trifle." 
 
 At the time when he made this chivalrous offer, His Majesty was putting people to 
 death every day with his own hand. Through something of the same feeling, perhaps, 
 that made him so anxious to get rid of Burney, it was noticed that the King committed no 
 murders on days when the gentleman just mentioned came to court, insomuch that one of 
 the Woongyis begged him to visit the King daily. 
 
 On one occasion the king was riding ; his horse stumbled, and the umbrella-bearer who 
 ran alongside laid hold of the reins to recover it. The poor man was immediately ordered 
 to be shot. 
 
 Moung Pedru, Governor of Pagan, and a Mussulman, was ordered to be confined in a 
 pig-sty and then put to death. 
 
 A favourite royal amusement was, to make any one who happened to be present kneel 
 down with his face to the ground, when the King, drawing his sword, would facetiously 
 
 * A harmonicon of steel bars, which a party of musicians brought occasionally to the Residency, was 
 said to have been of the King's manufacture. And Camaretta even could boast of having once pos- 
 sessed a hat made by the Royal hands ! 
 
OF YANDABO (l826) TO THE REVOLUTION OF 1853. 229 
 
 score a chessboard with gashes on the unfortunate's bare back. A man who is still in office 
 about the court can show the chequered endorsement of King Tharawadi's favours. Often 
 he would have two or three men taken out, and would set them up to be shot at with his 
 double-barrelled gun. He used to procure the livers of his victims and offer them to the 
 tutelary spirits of various trees. 
 
 In the latter years of his reign, Tharawadi quitted the capital and lived almost entirely 
 at Made, a village on the Irawadi, a few miles north of the city, at which he had built a 
 Palace. 
 
 In the summer of 1845 he had become so outrageous that scarcely any one dared to go 
 near him. One of his illegitimate sons, the Pyee-Men (Prince of Prome), having succeeded 
 in removing all the King's weapons, put him under restraint, and took on himself the Royal 
 authority. But the King, with the cunning of the insane, affected recovery, and after a few 
 days got back the reins into his own hands. His first desire was to put his son to death. 
 The Prince, however, escaped for a time to the Shan states. The King, suspecting the 
 Woongyi Moung Youk-gyi, who had been formerly Governor of Rangoon, to have been 
 cognisant of the Prince's intentions, speared him with his own hand. 
 
 A few months later (September 1845) a more successful attempt was made to put the 
 King under restraint. One of his sons, called the Taroup-mau-Mentha (Prince of Chinese 
 Point), assisted by some officers of the court, seized his person, removed him to the Palace 
 at Amarapoora, and placed him there in confinement. The attendance of his women and 
 servants was allowed him till the end of his life, in November 1846. During this interval 
 the Government was exercised by the Prince of Pagan, the King's eldest legitimate son, 
 but he did not assume the Royal title till his father's death. 
 
 About the period of Tharawadi's seclusion, the Prince of Prome was brought in a 
 prisoner from the Shan country. One of Tharawadi's queens, the Anouknan-dau, was 
 accused (falsely, it is believed) of having conspired with that Prince to seize the throne. 
 The Prince with five of his sons, and the Queen with all her relatives,* were put to death 
 at the usual place of execution, f Such was the worthy inauguration of the Pagan-Men's 
 Government, and its history did not belie this early promise. 
 
 Some time after his accession to the throne, he made a holocaust, after the old Burman 
 fashion, of his brother, the Taroup-mau-Mentha, with his family and all his household, to 
 the number of eighty or a hundred persons. I am speaking of deeds that have been done 
 
 * One girl, Tharawadi's child by this Queen, was spared, and she is now the principal wife of the 
 Ein-she-Men. 
 
 t Women are executed by the stroke of a bludgeon across the throat. The death reserved for a prince 
 of the blood is peculiar. He is taken to the place of execution ; his head is bent down, and his neck 
 broken (it is supposed) with a stroke of a bludgeon. The body is then pushed, thus doubled, into a 
 velvet bag, which is placed on a stick lashed across two jars, and launched on the river. The jars are 
 then perforated. 
 
 Decapitation, as already mentioned, is the usual mode of execution, but crucifixion, fracture of the 
 limbs, and other lingering cruelties, are occasionally practised. In the first volume of Ward's Hindoos 
 (8vo. edition, 1822, p. cvii.) will be found an extract from a letter by Mr. F. Carey, a resident at Rangoon 
 in the early part of this century, describing the frightful atrocities of this kind which he had himself 
 witnessed. 
 
230 NOTICES OF THE HISTORY OF BURMA FROM THE PEACE 
 
 within the last eight or nine years, when Lord Dalhousie was already Governor-general of 
 India. The new King strongly resembled his father in person, but with nothing of the 
 princely mien and winning manner which attracted strangers in Tharawadi. And he had 
 all the worst parts of his father's character without the plea of insanity in excuse. He 
 never paid the slightest attention to public affairs, but devoted himself to low favourites 
 and low amusements ; to cock-fighting, ram-fighting, wrestling, gambling, and debauchery. 
 He detested Europeans, or, as the people at Amarapoora used to say, he hated everything 
 that began with a K (Kald). His chief minister was the Kyouk Padoung Mengyi, a 
 man once a leader of banditti, who had been promoted to the Hlwotdau by Tharawadi 
 on his first success. His cruelties were not mere acts of caprice, but were the means of 
 carrying out or concealing extortions. His favourites and stimulators in these atrocities 
 were two native Mahomedans, Moung Bhai Sahib, one of the Myo-woons of the city, 
 and the latter's lieutenant (or Myo-tsard*), Moung Bhein. The power of these ruffians 
 endured about two years ; and it is said that during that period 3000 persons were privately 
 put to death in the gaols, besides a nearly equal number of public executions. People 
 were laid hold of on all sorts of pretexts, such as fishing in the royal lakes, eating beef, or 
 killing goats, and after large sums had been extorted from them (in which the King was 
 believed to share) their silence was secured by murder. 
 
 These villains were becoming more rampant every day, and the discontent became so 
 audible that the King at last took alarm. A violent proceeding of Moung Bhai's within 
 the Palace-walls was made a pretext for the King's indignation against him ; he was 
 arrested and put in charge of the other Myo-woon. At first the people could not believe 
 that their tyrant had really fallen, and were afraid to speak against him. But when they 
 saw that the King was in earnest, accusers flocked to the Yoomdau, and the unhappy 
 wretch suffered all the magazine of tortures that he had inflicted upon others. Pins were 
 driven under his nails, hot irons applied to all parts of his body, and his limbs beaten with 
 sledge-hammers. After three days of this horrible mauling he was carted to the burying- 
 ground and beheaded, along with Moung Bhein and others of his tools. 
 
 This happened a year or more before the war of 1852. It is no part of my plan to give 
 a narrative of that war. With such government at head-quarters, it is easy to understand 
 how the oppressions and exactions at Rangoon were allowed to go on from bad to worse 
 till interference was inevitable. 
 
 The first shot in the war was fired from the Burmese stockades in the Rangoon river, 
 on the 10th January, 1852, and Lord Dalhousie's proclamation annexing the province of 
 Pegu was published at Rangoon on the 20th December of the same year. About the 
 same time important events occurred at the capital, involving nearly a repetition of the 
 occurrences of 1837. f 
 
 The Prince of Mendoon was the only thoroughly respectable man of Tharawadi's 
 
 * Literally " Town Clerk." This is the Mew-Jerry of Cox. Moung Bhein, as a sort of per-contra to 
 his crimes, built the long bridge (1200 yards long) which crossed the lake near the Residency. 
 
 t The love of precedent which distinguishes the Burmese seems almost to mould their history in 
 repetitions. 
 
OF YANDABO (l826) TO THE REVOLUTION OF 1853. 231 
 
 numerous family. He and one brother (the present Em-she-Men) were the children of 
 that Prince by the daughter of a Tsayegyi, or clerk, who had been taken into his esta- 
 blishment as an inferior wife. The Prince of Mendoon had always been opposed to the 
 war. In December the " cock-fighting king," as he was called in derision, aware of the 
 discontent created by his folly and brutality, and by the disasters of the war, turned a 
 jealous eye on the amiable Prince of Mendoon, and the latter, becoming aware that his life 
 was in danger, on the 17th of that month fled from the capital with his brother and about 
 150 followers, and, according to family precedent, made for Mout-shobo. There must have 
 been some preparation for this flight, for immediately after crossing the river, which they 
 passed about fifteen miles above the capital, they were met by large bands of their par- 
 tisans, and, facing about, routed the King's troops, who had gone after them. They then 
 went on to Mout-shobo, and captured it after a little resistance. 
 
 The Christian prisoners, including Mr. Spears, but consisting principally of Armenians, 
 had been put in durance at the beginning of the war, and had been deprived of their 
 property, after which they were transferred to Oungben-le, as has been mentioned in 
 Chapter VI. On the 29th of December these prisoners were made aware of the approach 
 of the insurgents by the sight of burning villages to the northward and north-westward. 
 On the 31st their gaoler, Moung-gala, the Lamaing YVoon, or Superintendent of the Royal 
 rice-fields, went out with five hundred musketeers, some forty horsemen, and a few guns. 
 Great firing ensued for four or five hours, for which nobody seems to have been the worse, 
 but in the end Moung-gala retreated, casting his guns into the lake. The insurgents came 
 on, and stripped the prisoners of all the little necessaries or money they had preserved, but 
 left them thankful to keep whole skins. They were then unwatched, so they knocked off 
 the irons which they had worn for nine months, and betook themselves to the city. 
 
 Next day (1st January, 1853) the Prince's troops flocked in from all sides and began a 
 general plunder of the suburbs. Nothing was to be heard all day but the cleaving and 
 battering in of doors by these brigands. All this time the gates of the walled city were 
 open, and there was not a man or a gun upon the ramparts. The insurgents went round 
 and round, but did not enter ; and both parties were probably inclined for negotiation. 
 
 After three days, however, the King took heart ; the gates were shut, guns mounted 
 on the bastions, the parapets manned, and firing commenced on both sides. 
 
 This firing went on for six-and-forty days, resulting in a loss on both sides of 300 or 
 400 men at most. About the 18th of February a party within the walls, headed by the 
 Magwe Mengyi, the present chief minister, seized and confined the King's chief advisers ; 
 and in the confusion and abandonment of the defence that ensued, the Prince's troops got 
 over the walls and fell to plundering and burning the town. The Hlaing-Mentha, one of 
 the remaining sons of Tharawadi, who commanded the King's troops, was slain in the scuffle. 
 
 It must not be supposed that the Mendoon-men or his brother were leading their vic- 
 torious troops. That is not " Burman custom." When Rabbah is taken then Joab sends 
 for David. The elder Prince was still, and for long afterwards, at Mout-shobo. His 
 brother came to Sagain about the beginning of January, and continued there till the city 
 was in possession of his troops. He then entered, and the Mendoon-men was proclaimed. 
 
232 NOTICES OF THE HISTORY OF BURMA FROM THE PEACE OF YANDABO, ETC. 
 
 King.* Of his character we have already spoken. His conscientious efforts to do justice 
 have been rewarded by complete tranquillity, not only in the Burmese provinces, but among 
 those Shan states which in the days of his brother and father were in a state of chronic 
 insurrection. 
 
 His coronation, or solemn consecration as King, took place at the end of the year.f His 
 brother, the ex-King, lives, guarded but contemned, in a corner of the fortified city. 
 
 Soon after his accession the new King, according to the custom of his fabled ancestors, 
 the Sakya Princes of Kapilavastu, married his half-sister. The lady who thus became the 
 Nan-ma-dau-Phra, or Principal Queen, was Tharawadi's eldest daughter, by a cousin- 
 german of his own, and bore the title of Tsoophra-gyi. She is a year or two younger than 
 her husband, being now (1856) forty-one years of age. By an ancient Burmese prescrip- 
 tion, as the eldest daughter of the royal house she had remained unmarried. J She is the 
 only one of the numerous ladies of the Palace who has been married to the King by the 
 ceremony called " Let-litat? or joining of hands. She has no children.§ 
 
 * The King probably kept out of the way in some degree to save his character for humanity. Exe- 
 cutions were not nearly so numerous as in former revolutions at Ava, or even as at peaceful accessions 
 of new sovereigns. At that of Phagyi-dau in 1819, for instance, though there was no disputed succes- 
 sion, nearly two hundred public officers were put to death. Still there were executions in 1853, and 
 among the victims were the three sons of the deceased Prince of Pakhan. The Crown Prince gave out 
 that they had run away. 
 
 f At this ceremony, the ministers, princes, grandees, and men of wealth, assemble round the King, 
 whilst the Court Brahmins, after prayers or chaunts, take Ganges water in a chank shell, and pour it in 
 the palm of the King's hand and upon the knot of hair on his head. As this is being done the 
 assembled courtiers cry aloud, " O Lord, protect and cherish us your slaves, the inhabitants of this 
 country, and all living creatures." (Burney's Journal.) This is one of those ancient Indian customs 
 of the court to which I have before alluded, and is also maintained at the court of Siam (see 
 Bowring, vol. i.). Thus in Wilson's Hindu, Theatre (i. 270), in the play of Vicrama and Urvasi, when 
 their son Ayus is consecrated as Yuva-raja (young King, or Caesar, a title also, perhaps, preserved in the 
 Burmese Upa-raja, and probably the original of the second King of the Siamese), the nymphs bring 
 water of the heavenly Ganges, which is poured over his head on the throne of inauguration. 
 
 \ One popular reason assigned for this is, that she is kept, in case of a successful invasion of the 
 kingdom, to bestow as a bride upon the conquering Prince. Like the other practices just alluded to, it 
 may, perhaps, be found to have its origin in some ancient Indian custom recorded in the Buddhist books. 
 In Siam all the Royal daughters appear to be condemned to celibacy. {Bowring, i. 435.) 
 
 § Major Phayre. 
 
CHAPTER X. 
 
 SOME ACCOUNT OF TIIE RELIGION OF THE BURMESE. 
 
 Religion of Burma — Theoretical Atheism— Origin of Buddhism — History of Sakya— The Doctrine — 
 The Dewas — The Cosmography — The Embryo Buddha — The Ascetic Life — Pagoda Worship — 
 Ethics — Reflected Influence of Burmese Buddhism in Ceylon — Heretical Sectarians. 
 
 " All cultivated Chinese are — intellectually at least — strict and conscientious atheists. 
 But however consistent in their views, as taken by the bare understanding, it is impossible 
 for them practically to repress the action of their naturally inherent religious faculties. 
 Argue with them, and you find them unmistakably atheist. Let them talk themselves 
 about the vicissitudes of human affairs, and about their own lot in life, and you will find 
 them influenced by a belief in Teen as a supreme, intelligent, rewarding and punishing 
 power, with more or less of will and personality. Theoretically, they are atheists ; 
 practically, they are pantheists, or even deists."* 
 
 Nearly this I have heard Major Phayre give as his experience of the Burmese. 
 Dogmatically their religion, or philosophy, admits no recognition of an eternal God. But 
 their conscience, or religious instinct, leads them frequently to speak in a way consistent 
 only with such recognition; just as the polytheist Hindoo, in his spontaneous talk, 
 acknowledges the one Bhagwan, apparently with no reference to any member of his 
 Pantheon. 
 
 It seems to me necessary, if it be but for ready reference, that this work should 
 contain some account of a subject so prominent as the religion of the country. I 
 asked Major Phayre to favour me with a short paper on the subject, but he had no 
 leisure for the task ; and this must be my apology for undertaking it with so little 
 qualification. My principal authorities are named below.f 
 
 From the valley of the middle Ganges, through which our railway contractors are 
 now driving their lines of embankment, and from the beginning of the sixth century 
 
 * The Chinese and their Rebellions, by T. T. Meadows, Esq., 1856. 
 
 t Major A. Cunningham's Bhilsa Topes; B. S. Hardy's Eastern Monachism; the same author's 
 Manual of Buddhism ; Hodgson's Sketches of Buddhism ; Sangermano's Burman Empire ; Travels of 
 Fa-Man (Calcutta, 1848) ; Essay by Dr. Judson, appended to "VVayland's Life of him (vol. ii.) ; Tumour's 
 Papers in Jour. As. Soc. Ben., &c. 
 
 I have made free use of Mr. Hardy's books, which throw great light on Burmese Buddhism, from the 
 identity of its books and rites with those of Ceylon, where he gathered his knowledge. Several valuable 
 articles on Buddhism shave appeared since this chapter was written. I may mention two admirable 
 papers in The Times, in March or April of this year (1857), in the form of Essays on the Chinese Buddhist 
 Pilgrims to India. A Lecture on Buddha and Buddhism, by Professor Wilson, has also been printed in 
 the Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society. 
 
 H H 
 
234 SOME ACCOUNT OF THE KELIG10N OF THE BURMESE. 
 
 before Christ, when the kings were yet reigning in Rome and Nebuchadnezzar was 
 overrunning Western Asia, this religion, which still, after nearly five-and-twenty centuries, 
 claims between two hundred and three hundred millions of votaries, has its origin.* 
 
 There can be no longer a doubt that Gautama was a veritable historical personage ; and 
 whatever may have been his real participation in the superhuman pretensions that are 
 ascribed to him by his followers, there is strong reason to believe that he was a great 
 and patriotic social reformer, denouncing, as he did, caste and priestly mediation, and 
 inculcating a purer code of morals than the Brahmins, whom his doctrine so extensively 
 
 supplanted. f 
 
 Sakya Muni, Sakya Sinha, or Gautama, originally called Siddhartha, the founder of 
 this doctrine, at least in the shapes that it has worn since his time,J was the son of 
 Suddhodana, the Kshetriya sovereign of Kapilawastu, a small principality north of the 
 Ganges between Gorakhpoor and Oudh, and was descended from the Suryavansa, or line 
 of the Sun. He was born in the year 623 B. c, and spent his youth in the pursuit of 
 pleasure. In his twenty-ninth year certain incidents awakened him to reflection on the 
 transitoriness and delusiveness of human life and enjoyments. He had his palaces and 
 pavilions, his gardens and orchards and pools of water, his princesses and handmaidens, his 
 men-singers and women-singers ; but, like another prince some centimes before his time, 
 he found that all was vanity and vexation of spirit, and he abandoned his wife and child, 
 his palaces and pleasures, to adopt the life of an ascetic mendicant. For six years he went 
 through various courses of discipline; and then, after many weeks spent in intense 
 meditation at the place still called Buddha-Gaya, he became invested with those high 
 attributes which constituted him a Buddha,§ The rest of his long life was spent in 
 travelling over India, and residing at its various cities, explaining the immutable laws of 
 existence, persuading to meritorious actions, exhorting to the attainment of that final 
 emancipation which is called nirwdna (Burm. nigban), and aiding candidates for that 
 crowning prize. At the age of eighty years he died between two sal trees in a grove at 
 Kusinara,|| b. c. 543. The death of Sakya is related to have been occasioned by dysentery, 
 brought on or aggravated by eating pork ; a circumstance which, however ingeniously 
 
 * Hardy quotes a German estimate of the Buddhists of our day at 3G9 millions. Major Cunningham 
 has 222 millions, and is probably nearly right. He has omitted Tibet and Mongolia, unless including 
 them in his estimate for China, which is 170 millions. 
 
 f See Cunningham, p. 51. 
 
 { Some have supposed that Buddhism, and claimants of the character of Buddha, actually existed 
 before Sakya. Major Cunningham seems in a degree to take this view, or at least to consider that the 
 personages whom Sakya adopted into his system as the three preceding Buddhas of the present world- 
 period, were previously the subjects of hero-worship in India. 
 
 § " Kapilawatthu is my native city. The Raja Suddhodana is my father ; and the mother who bore 
 me is called Maya. Until my twenty- ninth year I led the life of a layman, having three palaces called 
 Rammo, Surammo, and Sabho. I had an establishment of forty thousand accomplished women. Buddha- 
 kachana (Yasodara) was my consort, and Rahulo was my son. On witnessing the four predictive indi- 
 cations, I departed on horseback. During the six years I was undergoing my probation, I endured severe 
 trials. I am Gotomo Buddho, the Saviour of living men." — The words of Sakya in the Buddhavanso. 
 Tumour, in Jour. As. Soc. Ben. vii. 817. 
 
 1 1 An extravagant variation exists in the localities assigned to this place. Major Cunningham iden- 
 tifies it with Kwma on the little Gunduk (p. 29). 
 
SOME ACCOUNT OV THE KELIGION OF THE BURMESE. 235 
 
 in the narrative adapted to the supernatural character of the sage, seems hardly likely 
 to have been invented. 
 
 After solemn cremation his bones were divided into eight parts. These were eagerly 
 claimed by eight princes or states of the territories of Maithila and Magadha, which 
 we should now define as the provinces of North and South Bahar; and sthupas (topes, 
 tumuli, or pagodas) were erected over them. Legends of various Buddhist countries, to 
 which the doctrine was unknown for centuries after the death of its founder, bring 
 Gautama as a personal visitor to those countries. But the history of the distribution of his 
 relics probably marks pretty nearly at once the limits of his peregrinations, and the great 
 influence which he had acquired within those limits. 
 
 Without attempting to speak of the various phases of Buddhism, its lower and higher 
 doctrines ;* the shades of theism, pantheism, and atheism, with which it incorporated itself 
 in the metaphysical speculations of its Indian doctors,! it may be said that its characteristics 
 everywhere were the inculcation of ascetic discipline and abstraction from the things of 
 sense, as the means through which man can, by his own efforts, not only attain the final 
 emancipation of nirwana, but may even, whilst still a mortal abiding upon earth, develope 
 his own moral and intellectual faculties to a divine supremacy. 
 
 Whether Sakya and the early Buddhist apostles did or did not admit a supreme and 
 eternal Being, they certainly did not recognise his providence or interference with the 
 affairs of men. And Buddhism as it is among the Burmese, and among the Singhalese, 
 from whom the Burman faith was immediately derived, appears to be quite ignorant of the 
 Adi-Buddha, or Supreme, of the Nepalese and ancient Indian theistic Buddhists. 
 
 Reward and punishment, indeed, in an infinite succession of existences, each varying 
 from the spans of animal or insect life to incalculable periods, are the key-notes of the sys- 
 tem. And yet thex-e is no judge or moral Governor. An unerring and inexorable fate, or 
 call it the instinctive operation of a power in nature, deals out to every living thing its 
 ascending or descending destiny, according to the predominance of merit or demerit in the 
 infinity of past existences.^ Even they who have attained for countless ages felicity 
 among the gods § come at last to the period of their enjoyment, and again have to go through 
 
 * See in Hodgson (pp. 39, 77, &c.) the various senses in which the "three precious ones," or 
 sacred triad of Buddha, Dharraa, and Sangha, was understood. In a transcendental sense, Buddha was 
 mind, Dharma matter, Sangha the concretion of the two in the phenomenal world. In a practical and 
 religious sense, Buddha is tiakya, Dharma his doctrine, Sangha the congregation of the faithful. 
 
 t For these, see Hodgson, pp. 36, 37. 
 
 \ It is impossible, without excessive circumlocution, to speak of the doctrine otherwise than as one 
 of transmigration ; and in this the popular view concurs. But the inference of students of the system is 
 different. No such thing as an immaterial or immortal spirit is recognised. At the death of any one 
 being the Karma, or influencing fate of that being, is transferred to another then produced ; and, in fact, 
 caused by that Karma. And till nirwana or extinction is attained, there is this repeated transfer of 
 the " merit and demerit accumulated during an unknown period by an almost endless- succession of 
 similar beings, all distinct from each other, never contemporaneous, but all bound by this singular law 
 of production to every individual in the preceding link of the chain, so as to be liable to suffer for their 
 crimes and to be rewarded for their virtues." (Eastern Monachism, pp. 5, 340.) 
 
 § The Buddhistic books recognise some, if not many, of the Hindoo gods as Brahmas and Dawas, 
 beings of superior endowments and felicity, inhabiting the heavenly regions. They are, however, imper- 
 
236 SOME ACCOUNT OF THE RELIGION OF THE BURMESE. 
 
 the vast vicissitudes of transmigration. Anitya, Dckha, Anatta, Transience, Pain, and 
 Unreality (so the devout Buddhist mutters as he tells his beads), these are the characters of 
 all existence, and the only true good is exemption from these in the attainment of nirwana ; 
 whether that be, as in the view of the Brahmin or the theistic Buddhist, absorption into 
 the supreme essence ; or whether it be, as many have thought, absolute nothingness ; or 
 whether it be, as Mr. Hodgson quaintly phrases it, the ubi and the modus in which the 
 infinitely attenuated elements of all things exist, in their last and highest state of abstraction 
 from all particular modifications such as our senses and understandings are cognisant of. 
 
 This great boon of nirwana is attainable only by a Buddha, and by those who live 
 within the period of his ministrations, or before his doctrine fades from the earth. And of 
 all the infinity of mundane systems, it is in this alone ; and in all the regions of this system 
 among the civilised nations of Jambudwipa alone ;* and in all the dark abyss of ages only 
 at vast intervals, that a Buddha and the light of his doctrine appears, so that to be born of 
 the privileged race within the period of such illumination is an inestimable boon. And the 
 chances of obtaining such a birth, say the Burmese doctors, are as the chances that a needle, 
 
 feet, limited alike in power and in duration. It is possible not merely for men to be reborn among them 
 by the practice of virtue, but even to surpass them by the attainment of emancipation from the vicissi- 
 tudes of existence. The number of Brahmas and Dewas is prodigious, but most prominent are Maha 
 Brahma, and Indra or Sakra, Emperor of the N&ts, as the Burmese call him. Gautama Buddha is said to 
 have been born, in the vast series of his pre-existences, four times as Maha Brahma and twenty times 
 as Indra. As the life of Indra is thirty-six millions of years, and the life of Maha Brahma is four 
 asanhhyas (the asankhya being a unit followed by 140 ciphers), this will give some notion of the numbers 
 which the Buddhist books handle like small change. 
 
 The place of these gods in the Buddhist system is thus entirely different from that which they occupy 
 in the Brahminical. The position of the minor gods is, perhaps, in some respects analogous to that of the 
 fairies and jinns of Europe and Western Asia. They were all the servants and guardians of the Buddha 
 whilst upon earth ; they are no proper objects of worship to his followers ; and little honour is paid them 
 by the Buddhists who best understand their own principles. But it is different with the multitude. 
 In Nepaul, it appears from Mr. Hodgson's papers, a large part of the Hindoo Olympus has been bodily 
 annexed by the degenerate Buddhists ; in Ceylon there are temples of the Dewas in every Singhalese 
 village, and constantly within the same enclosure as the Buddhist shrines ; in Burma we have noticed 
 an instance of this at the popular pagoda of Shw6-Zeegoong at Pagan. 
 
 In Burma the Dewas are called Nats, an indigenous term, believed to have been applied to the spirits 
 of the forest, the mountains and the elements, who were probably the objects of worship before Buddhism 
 was known. The existence of these Nats is still believed in, and they are inevitably still the objects of 
 popular dread and superstition. But this, though it does undoubtedly sometimes take the form of 
 worship, perhaps more usually takes that of exorcism and propitiation merely. Colonel Burney, in his 
 Journal, mentions a festival lasting fifteen days, during which the whole population engaged in this pro- 
 pitiation. The voice of a Nat had lately been heard in the city, and the King had gravely issued a 
 public order, telling the Nat that he was not wanted. Sangermano tells us that the running about in 
 the air of the frolicsome Nats was believed to produce rain ; and that, when rain was sorely wanted, 
 the people used to gather in the streets, and pull a long rope from side to side, loudly inviting the Nats 
 to come forth and play. But these things belong to Folk-Lore, not to Religion. 
 
 It is not likely that the gods had any place in the teaching of the philosophic Sakya ; but we know 
 from sacred and profane history the tendency of human nature to bring in the old idolatries. We see 
 in our own day how the Sikhs have lapsed into the worship of the Hindoo gods. (See on the subject of 
 this note Hardy's Manual, pp. 40-42 ; Laidlay's Travels of Fa-hian, pp. 133, 134 ; Hodgson, p. 79, &c.) 
 * Eastern Monachism, p. 449. 
 
SOME ACCOUNT OF THE RELIGION OF THE BURMESE. 237 
 
 tossed from the summit of the great mundane centre mount Myenrno, should strike with its 
 point the point of some particular needle planted in Jambudwipa.* 
 
 * Judson's Life, ii. p. 344. Jambudwipa is the tinou/tin of the Indian nations. The Buddhist cos- 
 mogony appears to have been fundamentally that of the Hindoos, but the imaginations of its teachers 
 have developed its immensities with variations. 
 
 Perhaps the possession of the Indian or Arabic system of numerals suggested to these Oriental cos- 
 mogonists a fatal facility in aggregating ciphers, to which the cumbrous arithmetical notations of Greece 
 and Rome would have lent no aid, had such extravagances been congenial to the taste and imagination 
 of the poets and sages of the Mediterranean. The Buddhists tell us, that if a stone were to be projected 
 from the summit of Mount Meru it would be four months and fifteen days in falling to the earth. They 
 tell us also, that if a wall reaching to the highest heavens were to be built round the space occupied by 
 1,000,000,000,000 mundane systems, and the whole area were to be filled with mustard-seeds, the 
 number of those seeds would still be less than the number of the systems existing in each of the four 
 cardinal directions from that inconceivable stand-point. Moreover, the circumference of each mundane 
 system is 3,610,350 yojanas. And were a Rishi (a sage whose austerities have endowed him with 
 miraculous power) to make a drum as large in circumference as a Sakwala, or mundane system, and to 
 beat it with a drum-stick as big as Mount Meru, the sound would be heard distinctly in only one other 
 system. 
 
 Indeed, the manner in which they strain the capacities of numeration, in striving to convey their 
 idea of the infinities of space and past duration, seems to leave behind the vastest calculations of modern 
 astronomers and geologists. 
 
 The mundane systems, we have seen, are numberless. They are all circular, and spread out in the 
 same infinite plane in groups of three, the three circles of each group being in contact. Every mundane 
 system is " self-contained." It has its own sun, moon, planets, and stars, its own heavens and hells, 
 its own Maha Brahma and Indra, and all orders of sentient being, its own Maha Meru and concentric 
 barriers. But this one system only is privileged to give birth to a Buddha. Hence it is called Magid, 
 or joyous. 
 
 In the middle of the system is mount Maha Moru, surrounded by seven concentric ranges of moun- 
 tains, gradually diminishing in height from the centre outwards. Round these focal ranges the sun, 
 moon, and stars revolve. Between the last and lowest of these ranges, and an eighth external range 
 which rises nearly to the height of Maha Meru itself, extends a vast ocean, in which are situated the 
 great islands (or continents rather) of earth. These continents are four in number, in the direction 
 of the four cardinal points from Mount Meru, and are in form respectively square, half-moon, round, and 
 three-sided (or lozenge-shaped, as it is elsewhere stated.) They have each also five hundred small depend- 
 ent islands of similar form to the large. The last or great southern continent is that called Jambudwipa, 
 and is inhabited, with its dependent isles, by ordinary mortals. Perhaps the angular shape assigned to 
 it is an indication of a knowledge of the true form of the great Triquetra of the Indian Peninsula. There 
 is no communication between Jambudwipa and the other three great world-islands. The inhabitants of 
 these latter, indeed, stand in much the same relation to normal humanity as the inhabitants of the won- 
 derful countries discovered by the celebrated Captain Lemuel Gulliver, or the Glumms and Gawrics of 
 Peter Wilkins, Mariner. The northern part of Jambudwipa is all occupied by the great forest of Himala 
 or Hemawanta, the theatre of all wonderful legends, the locality of the most wonderful natural objects, 
 and the seat of all sorts of wonderful beings, dewas, dragons, demons, Rishis, lions, and other animals. 
 All the localities in the system have an elaborate Indian nomenclature, and the Burmese names are 
 generally mere corruptions of the Pali. The central mountain, Maha Meru, is, however, by the Bur- 
 mese called Myen-mo Toung (Mount Myenmo), a form taken, I believe, directly from the Ceylonese. 
 F.Buchanan says, however, {A s. Researches,y\. 175) that Myen-mo Toung signifies the " Mount of Vision." 
 There is a remarkable conical mountain in the Aracan Yoma, close to the starting-point of the boundary 
 between British Burma and Ava, and conspicuous by its shape and altitude to a great distance along the 
 coast, which bears the name of Myen-ma-teng, usually interpreted, I know not how accurately, the "Ever 
 Visible." I have often thought that the real name of this mountain (which I ascended in 1853) must 
 be Myen-mo Toung {Mount Meru), It is under five thousand feet in height, but has a character of gran- 
 
238 SOME ACCOUNT OF THE KELIGION OE THE BURMESE. 
 
 The difference between one sentient being and another, be they Brahnias or Dewas, 
 goblins or men, brutes or insects, is but temporary, and dependent on the Karma, or action 
 of accumulated merit and demerit. With the exception of those who have entered on the 
 paths leading to nirwtina, they continue subject to interchange between the highest and the 
 lowest. The highest of the celestial dominations may yet sink into the abyss, and the worm 
 may yet, in the vast revolution of cycles, become supreme Buddha. To those only who 
 have entered the paths, there is the certainty that at a limited period, more or less remote 
 according to their proficiency, existence will determine.* 
 
 The Buddha is a being who, in vastly remote ages,f conceived the desire to attain such 
 eminence, that he might thereby be in a position to free other beings from the miseries of 
 continued existence. In this state of designation to the Buddhahood he is called Bodhisdt. 
 He might himself have attained emancipation myriads of ages since, but of his own free 
 will he deferred the privilege, threw himself into the stream of successive existence, and 
 through numberless births endured privations and afflictions, and underwent toils which are 
 compared to the effort to overthrow Maha Meru, for the benefit of others. But in every 
 birth he exercises the desire towards his great end. Attaining his last birth, of the human 
 family, and amid numerous signs denoting his high destiny, he in due time adopts the 
 ascetic life, and at last reaches his great aim, and is invested with the power and wisdom 
 of a Buddha. The innumerable worlds of space, the vast vistas of the past, with all pre- 
 
 deur quite disproportioned to this altitude, and is just the mountain that would be fixed on by indige- 
 nous worshippers as realising Maha Meru. 
 
 The chronology of the vicissitudes of the universe is quite congenial to the cosmography. The first 
 inhabitants of Jambudwipa lived an asankhya [a privative, and sankhya number], a period which has 
 been defined above. As wickedness prevailed in successive generations, life was gradually shortened till 
 its duration was no more than ten years. Virtue reviving, life extends gradually till it again reaches the 
 great maximum. And so this alternate progression of waning and waxing length of life is repeated 
 sixty-four times. Then comes the universal destruction by fire. After a vast period the world revives 
 and is re-peopled, and man goes through the sixty-four alternations of longevity as before. After seven 
 destructions by fire there is always a destruction by water, and the sixty-fourth destruction is by wind. 
 This fills up the great cycle of renovation and destruction, and then all recommences again. 
 
 A Buddha is never born during any period in which men's lives are more than 100,000 years in 
 duration, because it is then impossible to impress them with a sense of the impermanence of existence. 
 Nor is he born when (the maximum of) human life is less than 100 years, because vice is then so pre- 
 dominant, that the admonitions have not time to take effect. (Tumour's Extracts, Jour. As. Soc. Ben. 
 vii. 799. For full particulars of the cosmography, &c, see Manual of Buddhism, ch. i. ; Sangermano's 
 Burmese Empire, &c.) 
 
 * Manual of Buddhism, p. 36 ; Eastern Monachism, p. 5. So Pythagoras taught : — 
 " Omnia mutantur : nihil interit ; crrat et illinc 
 
 Hue venit, hinc illuc, et quoslibet occupat artus 
 
 Spiritus ; eque feris humana in corpora transit, 
 
 Inque feras noster ; nee tempore deperit ullo. 
 
 Utque novis fragilis signatur cera figuris 
 
 Nee manet ut fuerat, nee formas servat easdem ; 
 
 Sed tamen ipsa eadem est ; animam sic semper eandem 
 
 Esse sed in varias doceo migrare figuras." 
 t An asankhya of grand cycles (Judson's Life, ii. 342). He existed through four such asankhyas 
 and 100,000 kalpas (Tumour's Extracts in Jour. As. Soc. Ben., vii. 797). 
 
SOME ACCOUNT OF THE RELIGION OF THE BURMESE. 239 
 
 existences of himself and others,* and the thoughts of men, are open to his vision. He is 
 no longer liable to human passions and emotions. He has unerring wisdom to direct men 
 in the paths that lead to nirwana; the influences of nature, and the celestial beings minister 
 to him. But he is liable to pain, disease, and, when his time comes, to death ; and even 
 after he has entered on the Buddhaship, Karma follows him, and he still suffers at times 
 the temporary penalties of former demerit. f 
 
 Those who die before they attain the Buddhahood, even the most meritorious, and those 
 who have welcomed the signs which marked his birth, fall short of the final deliverance. 
 They will be rewarded probably with re-birth among high and happy beings, but still 
 they must "dree their weird" through a further long succession of existence, till the fifth 
 bud of the symbolic lotus shall open, and the future Buddha Maitreya (Burm. Ari-ma-teya) 
 shall again open the gates of nirwana. 
 
 During the lifetime of Gautama, and under his guidance and the influence of his exhor- 
 tations, hundreds of thousands reached the degree of Rahat (Sansc. Arhat), which is the 
 passport to nirwana; and subsequent to his death the influence of his doctrine is to con- 
 tinue, though with gradually decreasing efficacy, till after 5000 years it will have faded 
 from the world, and a period of darkness will succeed, enduring till the maturation of the 
 future Buddha. 
 
 For these 5000 years Buddha lives only in his doctrine. When from between the 
 sal trees at Kusinara he passed into nirwana, he ceased, as the extinguished fire ceases. 
 c 'Heis therefore in no sense an object of personal trust and confidence; the affections cannot 
 be placed on him ; his guidance cannot be sought, nor his sympathy received ; and when his 
 name is invoked, it is under the supposition that, by some latent process which cannot be 
 explained, the prayer addressed to him will be answered without the intervention of an 
 intelligent cause." $ 
 
 The ascetic and mendicant life is the normal life of all true disciples. Its main conditions, 
 as in the West, are continence, poverty, humility ; with abstraction from the world, ten- 
 derness to all living things, and the obligation of certain moral precepts, and numerous 
 ritual observances. As members of the holy Sangha, one of the precious triad, the ascetics 
 are approached with tokens of worship by the laity. They are constantly called priests in 
 English books, but monies would seem to come nearer the right term. They have, indeed, 
 assumed something of the priestly character in performing ceremonies which are supposed 
 to confer merit on those in whose names they are accomplished; and certain of their duties, 
 such as reading the sacred books to the people and instructing youth, partake of a pastoral 
 
 * So again Ovid's Pythagoras, — 
 
 " Ipse ego (nam memini) Trojani tempore belli 
 Panthoides Euphorbus eram." — Ov. Met. xv. 
 t These were called the nine tribulations of Buddha. In one case he was accused of murder, in 
 another of incontinence. These were the consequences of such crimes, which he had committed in 
 remote existences, and for which he had undergone punishment through myriads of ages. (Fa-Wail's 
 Travels, p. 175-6.) 
 
 % Eastern Monachism, p. 339. 
 
240 SOME ACCOUNT OF THE RELIGION OF THE BURMESE. 
 
 character. But still their main business is, and their sole business was originally, to work 
 out their own deliverance. 
 
 There is but one order, but there are grades in sanctity and approximation to the final 
 release. The Rahats or Rahans are those in whom evil desire has been entirely destroyed, 
 and who have no more births to look forward to. This name (Raban) was commonly applied 
 to all the religious in Burma in Symes's time, as it would appear from his narrative. But 
 the tiling is unknown. In no Buddhist country now does any one pretend to look forward 
 to immediate entrance into nirwana. 
 
 I do not apprehend clearly the doctrine about the laity, or secular community. They 
 are, however, the necessary complement of the system. On them the ascetic depends for his 
 daily sustenance ; they are addressed in the preaching of the doctrine, and they are recog- 
 nised as capable thereby of attaining merit and of rising in the scale of future felicity. But 
 to gain the final passport, it would appear that the monastic life must be adopted. At least, 
 it is said that the laic who becomes a Rahat must at once either enter the order or nirwana ; 
 must become a monk or die. To continue his lay life would be too perilous.* 
 
 The continence honoured by the Buddhist is not an intact virginity through life, but 
 strict adherence to professed renunciation. The monk has taken no irrevocable vows. He 
 is punishable by the civil power, in Burma at least, for breach of chastity whilst he remains 
 professed. But he can be permitted by a chapter of his brethren to fall back into secular 
 life, and to throw off" the yellow robe, as was the case with one of the present Woongyis. Many 
 have worn the yellow robes as novices ; a large proportion of the youths do so whilst 
 under instruction. But most, I believe, in Burma, who actually go through the ceremonies 
 of ordination f adhere to the rule which they have chosen. 
 
 The worship of the pagodas is a matter that it is difficult to grasp. It originated 
 undoubtedly in the reverence paid to relics concealed in the pagoda ; but the actual form 
 of the building, with the merest figment or hypothesis of a relic, would now seem to be the 
 object of religious regard. They who offer to the pagodas flowers, or tapers, or gold leaf, 
 and perform acts of worship before them, acquire merit which will work out its reward, as 
 surely as if the Buddha were present in the sacred symbols. Many lame figures and 
 analogies do the Buddhist Doctors bring forward to illustrate the accumulation of merit 
 through worship, although there be no conscious object of that worship. $ 
 
 But the question constantly recurs ; recognising no living deity, to whom is their worship 
 addressed ? It would seem to be a mere opus operatum, and scarcely to partake of the 
 nature of prayer. It consists rather in optative meditation, in the exercise and utterance 
 of benevolent desires, and in reflections on the decaying nature of the body, and on the 
 unreality and transience of^existence. 
 
 The ethics of Buddhism, with many puerilities, free as they are from the warp of caste, 
 
 * Eastern Monackism, p. 283. 
 
 t Lest the application of the word require an apology, let me quote Father Sangermano. " The cere- 
 monies which are observed upon the admission of candidates to the order of Pazen, resemble very much 
 the ordinations of deacons and priests in our church." (Burmese Empire, p. 97.) 
 
 j See Eastern Monachism, p. 231. 
 
SOME ACCOUNT OF THE RELIGION OF THE BURMESE. 241 
 
 appear to be much purer than those of Brahminism, and here and there among them maxims 
 are seen of a startling thoroughness that reminds one of the penetrating precepts of Holy 
 Writ. The reputation of the monks in Burma too maintains, I believe, a respectable level. 
 Yet the moral system has had little effect on the character of the people. No point, at 
 least, is more prominent in that system than tenderness of life. Yet in no country, probably 
 (unless in semi-Buddhist China), has human life been more recklessly and cruelly sacrificed, 
 whether in punishment of crime, or in judicial and private murder. 
 
 It appears to be generally allowed that Buddhist worship and the monastic discipline 
 are preserved in Burma with greater purity than in any other country ; the former less 
 mixed with the service of intruding divinities, and the latter less stained with the habitual 
 breach of obligations, either of poverty or continence. 
 
 In the teeth of fundamental principles the privilege of admission to the order was, in 
 Ceylon, long confined to the highest caste (in that island the gowi, or agriculturists). In 
 the end of the last century, a bold candidate of low caste, with several like-minded compa- 
 nions, visited Amarapoora in search of ordination. They were well received by the king 
 and priests, were admitted to the order, and on their return to Ceylon in 1802, accompanied 
 by several Burman priests, brought a missive from the Thathana Bain, or patriarch at 
 Amarapoora, to the corresponding dignitary at Kandy. Their community is known in 
 Ceylon as the Amarapoora society, and they denounce the heterodox practices of the 
 established body there; such as the invocation of Hindoo deities, the practice of secular arts, 
 like physic and astrology, by the monks, and what some of my friends in Scotland would 
 call Erastianism, or the acknowledgment of the royal edicts in matters of religion.* 
 
 During the reign of Mentaragyi, in the end of the last and the beginning of the present 
 century, a latitudinarian or heretical doctrine had considerable diffusion in Burma, among 
 the intelligent of both sexes. It is repeatedly mentioned by Judson in his Journals and 
 letters.f He calls its followers sometimes semi-deists, sometimes semi-atheists, but it is 
 difficult, from the slight notices alluded to, to get any accurate idea of their doctrine ; indeed, 
 it appears to have varied with the individuals. One held the fundamental doctrine that 
 Divine wisdom, not concentrated in any existing spirit or embodied in any form, but diffused 
 throughout the universe, and partaken in different degrees by various intelligences, and in 
 a very high degree by the Buddhas, is the true and only God. This seems very nearly 
 Mr. Hodgson's Prajnika doctrine, and not inconsistent with Buddhist tenets. In other cases 
 the sectarian tenets took the shape of a mere universal scepticism ; and in others of a nearer 
 approach to deism, with entire rejection of Gautama. This sect of Judson's is probably the 
 same with that of the Zodi, of whom Padre Sangermano says (undoubtedly giving too exact 
 a definition to their creed) : " They began by making a great stir throughout the whole 
 kingdom, and thereby excited the zeal of the Emperor against them. It is believed that 
 great numbers of them still exist in divers parts of the empire, but they are obliged to keep 
 themselves concealed. They are of Burmese origin, but their religion is totally different 
 
 * Eastern Monachism, p. 329. Sir J. E. Tennent's Christianity in Ceylon, p. 224-5. 
 t See Life, vol. i. pp. 182, 214, 216, 219, 236. 
 
 I I 
 
242 SOME ACCOUNT OF THE RELIGION OF THE BUBMF.SE. 
 
 from that of Godama. They reject metempsychosis, and believe that each one will receive 
 the reward or punishment of his actions immediately after death, and that this state of 
 punishment and reward will last for eternity. Instead of attributing everything to fate, as 
 the Burmese do, they acknowledge an omnipotent and omniscient Nat, the creator of the 
 world ; they despise the Pagodas, the Baos or convents of Talapoins, and the statues of 
 Godama. The present Emperor, a most zealous defender of his religion,* resolved with 
 one blow to annihilate this sect, and accordingly gave orders for their being searched for 
 in every place, and compelled to adore Godama. Fourteen of them were put to a cruel 
 death ; but many submitted, or feigned to submit, to the orders of the Emperor, till at 
 length he was persuaded that they all had obeyed. From that time they have remained 
 concealed." f 
 
 I have been told that this deistical sect is still numerous, but I have not been able to 
 obtain any information regarding them. 
 
 * This was in the early and pagoda-building days of Mentar&gyi ; sec note at p. 184. 
 t Burmese Empire, p. 86. 
 
CHAPTER XL 
 
 THE MINISTERS OF STATE ; MILITARY AFFAIRS ; REVENUE ; AND CURRENCY. 
 
 The Woongyis — Tsar6-dau-gyis and Thandau-zens — The Atwen-woons — List of Present Woongyis and 
 their Characteristics — The Woondouks — The King's Ordnance and Arsenal — Gunpowder — Salt- 
 petre and Sulphur — Artillery Personnel — The real Military Strength of the Burmese — The Impor- 
 tation of Muskets — Levy of Militia — Examples from Different Districts — Jobbing Colonels — The 
 Officers — The Quasi-Rcgulars — Burman Review— Few Wants of Burmese Soldiers — Character of 
 the Burmese — Troops Mustered for our Reception — The Elite of Burmese Troops — Superior Cha- 
 racter of the Present Ruler — His Hankering after his Lost Provinces — Probable Disadvantages of a 
 Treaty — Revenue System — Great Variations — Theoretical Division of the Country — The Cardinal 
 Tax — The House-Tax — Its Varying Rate and Exemptions — Mentaragyi's Domesday Book — Tax on 
 Agriculture — Rudeness of Measurements — Royal Domains — Miscellaneous Taxes — Minor Imposts 
 — Revenue Records — Assignation of District Revenues — Emoluments of Local Officials — Misappro- 
 priations — Reduction of Taxes by the Present King — His Monopolies — Estimated Proceeds — Pay- 
 ment by Salaries — Customs — Whole Revenue from Sources named — The King's Reforms and 
 Edicts — Burman Currency — Mentaragyi's Coinage — Our Rupees Mistrusted — Assay of Bullion — 
 The Pwhas — Loss by System of Currency — The Weights — Gold — The Ganza of Old Travellers — 
 Lead Used in Small Change — The Different Qualities of Silver Recognised — Process of Alloy as 
 Practised. 
 
 The Woongyis are the principal ministers of state, and constitute the Hlwot-dau, or high 
 court and council of the monarchy. Four appears to be the normal number of Woongyis, 
 and is the number at present ; but there sometimes have been six. Before the loss of Pegu 
 there was very often an extra Woongyi, on " deputation" at Rangoon, as Lord-Lieutenant of 
 Pegu, with peculiar powers. When there is an Einshe-Men, I believe he always is ex-officio 
 president of the Hlwot-dau. When there is no designated Crown-Prince, some other 
 Prince is the president. Thus, in the time of Phagyi-dau, Menthagyi was president of the 
 Hlwot-dau ; and in the beginning of the deposed King's reign, the Mekhara Prince, well 
 known from his addiction to European science. 
 
 The Woongyis do not appear to have any distribution of departments of business among 
 them, but deliberate together at the Hlwot-dau on whatever is brought before the body. 
 And in absence of a member from the meeting, orders intended for issue appear to be 
 "circulated" for approval, as in certain other governments.* 
 
 The decisions of the Hlwot-dau are recorded by some of the numerous Tsari-dau-tjijin 
 (" great royal writers "), or clerks of the council, or by the Thandau-zens (" receivers of the 
 
 * Burney's Journal. 
 
244 THE MINISTERS OF STATE ; MILITARY AFFAIRS ; REVENUE ; AND CURRENCY. 
 
 royal voice "), who are, I believe, the writers attached to the Royal Household, and deli- 
 vered to the Atwen-woons for submission to the King. 
 
 The Atwen-woons, Interior or Household Ministers, are also four in number at present, 
 though they, like the Woongyis, have sometimes been as many as six. They relieve each 
 other in close attendance on the King, and are the immediate recipients of all orders from 
 his Majesty. There is no question of their inferiority in precedence to the Woongyi, but 
 sometimes their influence over the King is much dreaded by the latter. It may be consi- 
 dered an unconstitutional state of things when their influence predominates. It was very 
 much the case in the reign of Phagyi-dau, before he sank into imbecility. The Atwen- 
 woons have no seat in the Hlwot-dau, but the Woongyis may call for their presence, or 
 even for that of the King himself, if they see cause. 
 
 In the days of Tharawadi and his elder brother, the Woongyis rarely ventured to press 
 disagreeable advice upon the King ; but, when it was absolutely necessary, they used to 
 pledge themselves to stand by one another. One then commenced the dangerous commu- 
 nication ; if the King looked displeased, another took up the discourse ; and the third and 
 fourth followed close after.* Thus the King did not know whom to punish ; though Phagyi- 
 dau sometimes solved the difficulty by sending all to the pillory. 
 
 The Woongyis are generally designated either by the title of some office whicli they have 
 held, or by a sort of Peerage-title derived from the township or district which they " eat," 
 or hold in jaghir. Mengyi, or "great prince," seems to be their appropriate title of address. 
 But their formal designation in Burmanised Pali is, " Egga Maha Thina-padi," or Thinadi- 
 padi.f The Woongyis are also styled Pwen, or Outer Thina-Padi, and Household Ministers 
 Atwen, or Inner Thina-Padi. The Atwen-woons are often called by their own proper 
 names, which is not usually the case with the Woongyis. 
 
 By the Atwen-woons is transacted, nominally at least, the extensive business-arising in 
 the present reign from the royal monopolies, at their office in the Palace called the Bya-deit. 
 Wherever the King may go, even for the most temporary sojourn, a Hlwot-dau is 
 established in its proper relative position to the King's residence. 
 
 Orders from the King are brought to the Hlwot-dau by the Thandau-zens. When 
 such a messenger enters the Hlwot-dau, all turn towards the throne, or seat appropriated 
 to the King when he may visit the Council, whilst the Thandau-zen kneels before it, and 
 all perform the Shikho. The Thandau-zen then reads out his Majesty's commands in the 
 usual sing-song.J 
 
 Besides the cases adjudged by the Hlwot-dau collectively,§ it has always been the custom 
 for many suits to be referred to individual ministers at their own houses ; and this used to 
 be one of the chief sources of their revenue, as costs to the amount of ten per cent on the 
 litigated property belonged of right to the judge. 
 
 * Burney. 
 
 t This is a corruption of the Sanscrit Eka, chief ; Maha, great ; Senadhipati or Senapati, general ; 
 but used also as an honorific title, without necessary reference to Sena, an Army. Adhipati, or 
 Pati, means the same — Master or Lord. — (From a note kindly furnished by Professor H. H. Wilson.) 
 
 X Burney. § See page 137. 
 
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THE MINISTERS OF STATE ; MILITARY AFFAIRS ; REVENUE ; AND CURRENCY. 245 
 
 The present Woongyis are as follows: — 
 
 1st. — Moung Gya-oo, the Magwe Mengyi. 
 
 2nd. — Moung Mho, the Myadoung Myotsa, generally called the Pabe (or Smith) 
 VVoon, from having been formerly a sort of master-general of the ordnance. His appanage 
 of Myadoung is a town on the upper Irawadi towards Bamo. 
 
 3rd. — Moung Tsho, the Mein-loung Woongyi. 
 
 4th. — Moung Yan-we, the Pakhan Woongyi. 
 
 Moung Gya-oo is a man of about fifty-eight years of age. He has a good character among 
 his countrymen, and appears to be moderate and fair. When discussing business-questions, 
 he at once accedes to what is asked, if he can, and eschews the usual Burmese tactics of 
 granting nothing except under compulsion. He is undoubtedly desirous of keeping on good 
 terms with the British Government, and Major Phayre thought he was anxious that the 
 treaty should be concluded. His mother is said to have been a Munnipoori. It is unusual 
 for a person not of pure Burmese blood to be raised to the rank of Woongyi. Under the 
 King Phagyi-dau he was an officer in the Palace guards. He was appointed a Woongyi 
 by King Tharawadi. When the present King fled from the capital, in December 1852, 
 Moung Gya-oo did not follow him, but maintained a correspondence with him, and even- 
 tually made a diversion in his favour which led to the Prince's obtaining possession of the 
 city. 
 
 Although there is no one Woongyi superior to others in rank, yet Moung Gya-oo takes 
 the lead in the Hlwot-dau, and conducts all correspondence relating to affairs with the 
 British Government. On this account he has the title of Aye-baing, in addition to his 
 other titles, implying diplomatic authority. 
 
 Moung Mho still to a certain extent looks after the King's cannon and muskets. He 
 also superintends the casting of bells, making pagoda umbrellas, &c, when the King 
 requires them ; and, being supposed to have a genius where metal is conceited, was required 
 to produce a man who should acquire the use of the daguerreotype apparatus which had 
 been presented to the King. Under the ex-King Moung Mho was an Atwen-woon. 
 When the present King fled he remained at court, but managed to escape blame after the 
 revolution. He formerly had the reputation of being violently prejudiced against the 
 English, but we found him very friendly in his behaviour. He is a man of about fifty- 
 three or fifty-four. 
 
 Moung Tsho was formerly a military officer. At the revolution he joined the present 
 King from Tsaloon-myo with some followers. Hence the King, out of gratitude, raised 
 him to his present position. Moung Yanwe is about forty-one or forty-two years of age. 
 He was formerly a monk in a Kyoung at Amarapoora, and was then the spiritual guide of 
 the Prince who is now on the throne. When the latter fled, the priest threw off his 
 monastic robe and followed his master. He has now married a lady who was formerly one 
 of Tharawadi's inferior queens. After that King's death she remained a widow till 1853, 
 when she was united to the ex-priest. Moung Yanwe is a man of learning, having been 
 more than twenty years in the monastic order. He does not appear to have much influence 
 in public affairs. 
 
246 THE MINISTERS OF STATE ; MILITARY AFFAIRS ; REVENUE ; AND CURRENCY. 
 
 The Woondouks form the third order of ministers, and may be termed the assistants 
 of the Woongyis, with whom they sit in the Hlwot-dau, though in an inferior position. 
 The best known to us of the Woondouks was Moung Mhon, so often mentioned in the 
 preceding narrative. Under the ex- King he was a Thandau-zen, and was made a Woon- 
 douk, but lost the appointment by the revolution. He was, however, selected to go on the 
 mission to the Governor-general in 1854. The Dalla-woon (now the old Nan-ma-dau 
 Phra-woon) was nominally chief of the Embassy; but the court mainly depended on 
 Moung Mhon. After his return, he was re-appointed a Woondouk, and received the 
 district of Paopa, adjoining the great mountain of that name, to eat. He is a man of 
 undoubted ability, and will probably rise to the highest office. 
 
 The King of Ava has no magazines or munitions of war, properly so called. He has a 
 large number of heavy and field-guns, nearly all of which would be pronounced unservice- 
 able by us, and for these there is a small supply of indifferent ammunition. But he has 
 neither trained gunners to fight his artillery nor equipage to transport them. 
 
 The royal arsenal, if such a pompous designation may be used, is situated within the 
 Palace walls. It is there that the powder is stored and the artillery material collected, and 
 thence issues are made to the provincial Governors. 
 
 The ordnance stored in the Palace, as far as could be ascertained, consisted of about 
 270 brass guns of all sorts and sizes, 200 iron guns, and 40 mortars, with 560 jinjals. 
 Fifty-three of these were mounted on carriages. The rest were laid on the ground in one 
 long line, on either side of the inner eastern gate of the Palace, and nearly the whole of 
 them may be said to be honeycombed and unserviceable. Twenty-one of the most showy 
 mounted pieces were ranged in front of the Hall of Audience, as mentioned in the descrip- 
 tion of the city. 
 
 In front of the Heir-appai-ent's house we also observed two iron field-guns, old, but 
 sufficiently well mounted. In visiting the Myadoung Woongyi, also, a large smithy was 
 observed in the courtyard, where they had just turned out seven new field-gun carriages. 
 These seemed to have been carefully made, and were complete, with elevating screws, &c, 
 and with limbers after the English model. 
 
 But out of their whole arsenal, it is doubtful whether the Burmese could bring into use 
 more than thirty serviceable field-guns. 
 
 In addition to the guns at the capital, there are a few pieces at some provincial towns 
 of importance, as at Toung-dwen-gyi, and at Mone and Thein-ni, in the Shan country. 
 But the aggregate number of these could not be ascertained. 
 
 Gunpowder is made in the outskirts of the city by Burmese workmen, under the super- 
 intendence of an Armenian. The quality is said to be good at first, but, from defective 
 granulation or carelessness in storing, it imbibes moisture, and deteriorates much more 
 rapidly than it ought to do. 
 
 Saltpetre is abundant in the country,* insomuch that its exportation was an object for 
 
 * See page 58. 
 
THE MINISTERS OF STATE ; MILITARY AFFAIRS ; REVENUE ; AND CURRENCY. 247 
 
 which the E. I. Company's agents in the seventeenth century attempted to negotiate with the 
 King of Ava. It is not so with sulphur. A small quantity of this is said to be procured 
 from the district of Silleh Myo,* and the Chinese also import a little. But the Burmese, 
 though ready to assert the contrary, are dependent upon foreign supply for this article. 
 The bulk of what is used is smuggled up the Irawadi, or over the Aeng pass ; and so 
 successfully, that the price at Amarapooraf is not materially higher than it used to be 
 before the war. Burmese are usually the smugglers, Mogul merchants being afraid to 
 undertake the risk. 
 
 The principal magazine, a brick building, continues to be maintained in the S. W. 
 corner of the outer yard of the Palace, in spite of the warning given by the explosion of a 
 former one during the reign of the present King's father. The Burmese, with their usual 
 carelessness, persist in storing within the same walls powder, muskets, and other munitions 
 of war, rendering a second such accident highly probable. 
 
 The artillery force in personnel amounts to 500 men. About eighty of these are natives 
 of India who have settled in Amarapoora. The rest are Burmese, Munnipooris, and 
 Pathis, or native Mahomedans. The Munnipooris and people from India J receive monthly 
 two baskets of rice ; the Burmese have land free of rent ; and the Pathis, who were 
 enrolled in the corps by the present King, have exemption from certain occasional 
 payments. 
 
 For a year and upwards preceding our visit, the artillery, by order of the Crown-Prince, 
 had been practised in ball-firing two or three times a month. During our stay at the 
 capital the practice was discontinued. When it does take place, no system of instruction is 
 followed, and no regularity is observed in telling off the men, so that all may be taught in 
 torn. There are headmen over the several classes included in the corps, and with these it 
 rests to name the individuals to attend practice. 
 
 No one takes much interest in it. Cannon has not that mysterious influence over the 
 Burman that it possesses over the mind of the Golundaz of India. The country is 
 unfavourable to its transport, had they even the requisite equipages, which they have not. 
 And in estimating the military resources of the Burmans, both their cavalry and artillery 
 may be safely left out of the calculation. 
 
 Artillery to a Burman army would prove rather an encumbrance than an auxiliary. 
 The energy which might otherwise be employed against an enemy would be expended in 
 attending to the safety of their guns. 
 
 It is only with a musket behind a breastwork, thrown up in dense jungle, where he 
 thinks he cannot be turned, that the Burman becomes really dangerous ; and whatever may 
 be the amount of opposition, whatever the damage inflicted by the Burmese in any future 
 war with us, that amount will depend upon the number of muskets in their possession ; and 
 
 * We saw efflorescent sulphur in the ravines near the petroleum wells, 
 t In 1855, one rupee per viss. 
 
 I It is a curious fact that we have no one word which can be accurately used as an appellation for 
 the people of India. Hindoos, Ilindustanees, and Indians, are all misleading or equivocal. 
 
248 THE MINISTERS OF STATE ; MILITARY AFFAIRS ; REVENUE ; AND CURRENCY. 
 
 this number must chiefly depend on whether the present prohibition against the import of 
 fire-arms through our territories is continued or withdrawn. " If continued," writes Major 
 Allan, " and it is to be hoped that it always may be, whatever be the relations existing 
 between the two Governments, twenty years hence, of the 25,000 or 30,000 muskets now 
 supposed to be in the country, not one-third will be, even in Burmese estimation, serviceable ; 
 and thus, not only their means, but their hopes, of doing mischief will be diminished in 
 the same ratio." 
 
 Though the life of every subject is at the disposal of the King, and though every male 
 is liable to serve as a soldier whenever he is called upon, the strength of a Burmese force 
 must depend, not on the amount of the population, but on the number of men the King can 
 feed in a collected state, or the amount the occupied districts can be made to support; and 
 the efficiency of this force, of course, on the number of muskets. 
 
 When soldiers are required for war, the Hlwot-dau issues, under precept from the 
 King, orders to the Governors of Provinces to collect the contingent that each province or 
 district is bound by custom to provide. These orders are conveyed by the provincial 
 rulers to the Myo-thoogyis and Taik-thoogyis (heads of townships, and circles of 
 villages), and by them communicated to the village Thoogyis. The mode of raising 
 and paying these levies differs in detail in almost every district ; but the systems which 
 used to be followed in some of the districts now within our jurisdiction may be cited as 
 examples. 
 
 The district of Meaday was prescriptively rated at 500 soldiers only, though during the 
 late war the contingent was raised by order of the Kyouk Pa-doung Woongyi, who came 
 down from Ava to command in chief, to 2000 men. On the levy being called out, sixteen 
 families were formed into what was named " one house," and were required to furnish two 
 soldiers when the district assessment was for 500 men ; but more on extraordinary occa- 
 sions, such as that just mentioned. The selection of the conscripts rested with the 
 Thoogyis, though those selected were at liberty to provide a substitute, obtained either by 
 paying a sum of money, or by cancelling a debt.* Generally, however, the men fixed on 
 were those unable to pay their share of the contribution raised from the people for the 
 support of the contingent. The sixteen families had to provide their own soldiers with 
 arms and ammunition, and on leaving for service with one basket of rice (56 lbs.) and 
 money at the rate of 5 Rs. a month, for the number of months the duty was expected to 
 last. When the ammunition became expended, the officer commanding the contingent 
 collected money from the soldiery, and purchased a supply where he could. Ammunition 
 is sometimes also issued from the Royal magazine at the capital. 
 
 The Prome contingent amounted to 1500 men, and was formed by men who voluntarily 
 enrolled themselves as soldiers. They were provided with arms by the head of the district, 
 
 * Colonel Hannay, in his voyage to Mogoung with the "Woon of that place, got some insight into the 
 practices of Burmese jobbing Colonels. Men designated for the quotas of the villages sometimes paid as 
 much as 100 or 150 tikals to get off; and this money, which ought to have provided a substitute, went 
 into the pockets of the Myo-woon. f % 
 
TIIE MINISTERS OF STATE; MILITARY AFFAIRS ; REVENUE ; AND CURRENCY. 249 
 
 and received each yearly from the public granary (to which the people contributed for that 
 purpose) a liberal allowance of rice, on the understanding that their services were available 
 when required. 
 
 The practice in Padoung was different from both of these just detailed. The levy 
 numbered five hundred men. Each had two families told off as the sources of his 
 maintenance. To one family was assigned, free of tax, about five acres of land, of which 
 half the produce bad to be made over to the soldier. The other family had to pay him 
 ten tikals a year, and to furnish him with fire-wood and other minor articles. The Tliwi- 
 ihouk-gyis, or captains of fifty, had seven families designed for their maintenance. Six of 
 these paid ten rupees yearly, and the seventh contributed a moiety of the produce from ten 
 acres of tax-free land. Similarly the Bo, or centurion, had fifty-two families assigned him. 
 The Bo-gyi, or commandant of the contingent of five hundred, was paid by a tax levied 
 071 his subordinate officers and men.* 
 
 Some townships on the river, instead of furnishing any contingent of troops, were bound 
 to provide and man a certain number of war-boats. Thus Shwedoung, just below Promo, 
 had to fit out, when required, twelve war-boats, with crews of fifty to seventy men each. 
 
 Besides these provincial levies, there is a force of a somewhat more permanent character, 
 from which the soldiers on duty at the capital are drawn, and believed to amount to about 
 ten thousand men. These are supposed to be always prepared for service, and the villages 
 or districts from which they are drawn are generally exempted from taxation. Several of 
 the corps of these troops are dressed in uniform, but we saw little indication of anything 
 like training or discipline. Their officers also are often most unfit — petty traders or village 
 accountants. These officers are as follows: — The Bo-gyi, or commandant, under whom, in 
 a corps of five hundred men, are two or three Bos; the Thwi-llwuk-gyis, or captains of 
 fifty ; and the Akyats, or officers of ten. The Bos and Bo-gyis only seem to hold a place 
 analogous to that of our commissioned officers. The Woongyis and other ministers take 
 the position of general officers on occasion.f 
 
 * These taxes the Bos often, when on distant duty, levy unmercifully, besides taking douceurs to allow 
 men to return home, or for similar indulgences. The Myo-woon of Mogoung, when Colonel Hannay was 
 with him at Hookhong, established gambling-shops, from which he derived a large profit ; and when 
 quarrels fell out he added to his gains by fining the soldiers for gambling, and their officers for per- 
 mitting it. — (MS. Journal!) 
 
 ■f According to Burney, the quasi-regulars are, or used to be, divided into regiments bearing some 
 sounding Pali name, and each formed of two battalions of 500 men, distinguished as North and South, 
 like our right and left wings. As we had no opportunity of seeing a Burman Review, I borrow the 
 description of one from Colonel Burney's Journal (January 2d, 1831). The King Phagyi-dau was present, 
 mounted on the neck of the white elephant, which he guided without assistance, and attended by all the 
 ladies of his Palace. 
 
 " The business of the day commenced by a party, consisting of some of the Woongyis and Atwen- 
 woons and first officers of Government, dressed in their military helmets and uniform, appearing at one 
 end of the open space, mounted on small Burman ponies. They ambled one after another past the King 
 towards a target elevated on a pole about twenty-five feet high, at which they threw a small light lance, 
 five feet long, as they turned their horses round to return to the spot whence they started, and to take 
 another lance from one of their attendants, and amble again towards the target as before. They each 
 threw about a dozen lances, and the target was not struck more than ten or eleven times. . . . When 
 
 K K 
 
250 THE MINISTERS OF STATE ; MILITARY AFFAIRS J REVENUE ; AND CURRENCY. 
 
 When a service lasts longer than is expected, and the levies are at a distance from their 
 own homes, contributions are levied from time to time on the people of the districts for the 
 support of their own contingents ; but, as very little of this exaction ever reaches its 
 destination, the soldiers are thrown on the resources of the inhabitants, to live at free 
 quarters, and, unchecked by their chiefs, they plunder and harry at will. The advent of 
 troops to any district is looked on with great horror by the villagers, and soldier and robber 
 are considered nearly equivalent terms.* 
 
 With all the deficiencies of the Burmese soldier, he has one great advantage over our 
 disciplined troops; he requires no commissariat; at one end of his musket he carries his 
 mat to sleep on, at the other his cooking-pot; round his loins is bound a wallet of the rice,f 
 which, with a few chilies, composes his simple fare.J These, and the dhd with which he 
 entrenches or huts himself, complete in his idea every requisite for a campaign. 
 
 From a paper by Major Allan, who has supplied nearly the whole of the facts now 
 
 their stock of lances was exhausted they dismounted, and the most successful of them came and kneeled 
 down before the King, whilst the Queen sent to them a piece of red muslin and some flowers. . . . The 
 next display consisted of the cavalry marching past the King, and afterwards trying, two at a time, to 
 pick up an orange with their lances whilst in full gallop. Only two oranges were so picked up, one by a 
 Mahomcdan who commanded a portion of his Majesty's cavalry, and who is said formerly to have served 
 in Skinner's horse. 
 
 " The cavalry consisted of three bodies, of about eighty or ninety men each. One party had curious 
 high head-dresses, said to be the old uniform of the Cassay horse. Most of them appeared to be Munni- 
 poorians or their descendants. They were armed only with lances, having neither swords, nor carbines, 
 nor pistols. I should have taken them to be very bad riders, but the manner in which they struck down 
 upon the oranges whilst in full gallop, and recovered their lances, proved them to be good horsemen. 
 The Burmese always ride without shoes, and can insert only two or three of their toes in the stirrup- 
 iron. The large gilt flaps of the saddle prevent the u^e of spurs, but the noise of these flaps, with which 
 they urge their horses, can never, of course, prove so effective as a good pair of spurs. In riding they 
 bend their bodies far back, and seem to hold on by the bridle, which must be the cause of all Burman 
 ponies having such hard mouths. The legs of the rider, also, with the knees much raised, are in constant 
 motion, and do not appear to belong to him. Yet, from the Burmese saddle having a high peak both 
 behind and before, it is difficult to be thrown out of it. . . . Some of the troops countermarched, and 
 went through the manual and platoon exercise, with a few Burmese variations. They fired very fair 
 volleys, the regiment being first very carefully faced towards the crowd of spectators, and not towards 
 the King," &c. 
 
 * Colonel llannay, who accompanied a party of Burmese troops nearly to the Assam frontier in 1836, 
 spoke strongly of the alarm and horror excited by their approach in all the villages. 
 
 t Sometimes, however, when obliged to carry a larger commissariat, the soldiers are encumbered with 
 bangy loads, lashing their muskets to the bangy-stick, or carry a basket strapped over the forehead. — 
 (Hannay's Journal) 
 
 + Dr. Bayfield thus speaks of the way in which Burmese soldiers managed to exist in the valley of 
 Payendwen. " By far the greater part have no rice to eat, and subsist upon young leaves gathered in the 
 neighbouring spot or forest, and boiled with some rotten fish and salt, dignified with the name of Onapi." 
 (AfS. Journal.) In like manner speaks old Caesar Frederick, three centuries ago : — " I have seen with 
 mine eyes that those people and soldiers have eaten of all sorts of wild beasts that are on the earth ; 
 whether it be very filthy or otherwise, all serveth for their mouths. Yea, I have seen them eat scor- 
 pions or serpents ; also they feed on all kinds of herbes and grasses. So that, if such a great Armie want 
 not water and salt, they will maintayne themselves a long time with rootes, flowers, and leaves of trees. 
 They carry Rice with them for their voyage, and that serveth them instead of comfits, it is so daintie 
 unto them." — Purchax, ii. 1755. 
 
THE MINISTERS OF STATE; MILITARY AFFAIRS ; REVENUE ; AND CURRENCY. 251 
 
 detailed, I may not inappropriately here introduce a sketch of the character of the Bur- 
 mese, especially as bearing on their qualities as soldiers : — 
 
 " Unlike the generality of Asiatics, the Burmese are not a fawning race. They are 
 cheerful, and singularly alive to the ridiculous ; buoyant, elastic, soon recovering from 
 personal or domestic disaster. With little feeling of patriotism, they are still attached to 
 their homes, greatly so to their families. Free from prejudices of caste or creed, they 
 readily fraternise with strangers, and at all times frankly yield to the superiority of the 
 European. Though ignorant, they are, where no mental exertion is required, inquisitive, 
 and to a certain extent eager for information ; indifferent to the shedding of blood on the 
 part of their rulers, yet not individually cruel ; temperate, abstemious, and hardy, but idle, 
 with neither fixedness of purpose nor perseverance. Discipline, or any continued employ- 
 ment, becomes most irksome to them, yet they are not devoid of a certain degree of 
 enterprise. Great dabblers in small mercantile ventures, they may be called (the women 
 especially) a race of hucksters ; not treacherous or habitual perverters of the truth, yet 
 credulous and given to monstrous exaggerations ; where vested with authority, arrogant 
 and boastful; if unchecked, corrupt, oppressive, and arbitrary; not distinguished for 
 bravery, whilst their chiefs are notorious for cowardice, for with the latter cunning in war 
 ranks far before courage. Inexpert in the use, and careless in the preservation of, their 
 arms, they are indifferent shots, and though living in a country covered with forest, are not 
 bold followers of field-sports. Notwithstanding that, in the late war, when opposed to our 
 troops, they failed much in determination, they would nevertheless prove a most unrelenting 
 foe to an enemy taken at a disadvantage ; their activity on such an occasion making them 
 the more hurtful, and their previous fear the more cruel."* 
 
 On the occasion of the reception of the British Envoy on the 13th of September, 9230 
 foot soldiers, and 1286 cavalry mounted on indifferent ponies, lined the streets of the 
 city and the avenues of the Palace enclosures. There were, besides, 500 men under 
 arms at Tsagain, and 500 more at the old city of Ava, making a total of 11,516 men 
 in and about the capital on that day. Many of these, evidently, had never had muskets 
 in their hands before. Others, permanently on duty at the Palace, were comparatively 
 well and uniformly dressed, had better arms, and seemed more accustomed to handle 
 them. 
 
 This large force had been collected with the twofold object of re-assuring the minds of 
 the inhabitants of the capital, who had been alarmed by rumours of the sinister designs of 
 the Mission, and of making as imposing a display as possible before our party, whilst paying 
 us at the same time a compliment in keeping with European usages.f On the day follow- 
 ing our audience, the majority of the troops were dismissed to their homes, from which 
 they had been kept at great inconvenience to themselves and expense to the King, who fed 
 them on this occasion. Judging from the data collected by Major Allan, it does not seem 
 probable that the King of Ava, at the present time, could assemble a larger force than 
 
 * Report on the Northern Frontier of Pegu, dated 18th July, 1854. (In the Foreign Office, Calcutta.) 
 t It is, however, an old Burmau usage also to line the streets with soldiers. 
 
252 THE MINISTERS OF STATE ; MILITARY AFFAIRS ; REVENUE ; AND CURRENCY. 
 
 18,000 musketeers. Spearmen and dha-men, who always form a great proportion of a 
 Burmese army, however efficient against Slians and Khyens, need scarcely be taken into 
 account by us. 
 
 The inhabitants of certain districts are especially considered the hereditary soldiers of 
 the Alompra dynasty, holding their lands in tenure by military service. Mout-shobo, 
 Madeya, Aloung-myo, Dibayen, and Kunni-myo, arc the most important of these districts. 
 Though in reality their fighting-men are an undisciplined levy, they are looked upon by 
 the Burmese themselves as among their best and bravest soldiers. They have always 
 been noted for their attachment to the present race of kings, and from these they have met 
 in return with every indulgence and consideration.* The fortune of these kings, in the 
 event of invasion, they would follow faithfully. Nor would this fidelity be confined to the 
 Alompra districts alone. The Burman inhabitants of Amarapoora, Ava, and Tsagain, 
 would prove equally loyal. For, in addition to the attractions and sympathies for the 
 Court of one of their own race, the people of the capital and neighbouring villages have 
 always been fostered at the expense of the provinces. They pay no taxes, and are seldom 
 called on for any public service. Numerous families live in comparative comfort, supported 
 by relations attached to the court and by officials in many grades, from the Woongyi to 
 the petty writer. 
 
 In another Chapter has been noticed the great superiority of the present King to the 
 ordinary run of Burman rulers. He is naturally benevolent and humane. This dis- 
 position, confirmed probably by his intercourse with Europeans, by the murders and 
 oppressions he witnessed, but could not prevent, during his brother's reign, and by the 
 state of fear for his own life in which he lived for a long time, seems to have created in him 
 a sincere dislike to shed blood, remarkable in one of his race. His conciliatory conduct 
 towards the Shan dependencies also, in recognising their native princes, or Tsaubwas, 
 instead of forcing upon them Burmese rulers, whose extortions used to give rise to constant 
 outbreaks, gives him a fair prospect of a peaceable and quiet reign. 
 
 Still the King, as may have been seen from his conduct during Major Phayre's attempt 
 to negotiate a treaty, is far from giving up all hope of recovering the lost province of Pegu. 
 On the contrary, the most constant bent of his mind would appear to be towards the 
 attainment of this object. He is too sagacious not to know that, even were his resources 
 quadrupled, he would be unable to wrest Pegu from us. He may connive at discontent 
 and welcome revolt, but neither he nor his brother will attempt open force. This does not 
 hinder both from living in the hope, encouraged by people about the court, that some great 
 calamity may yet befall the Anglo-Indian Empire, necessitating the abandonment of Pegu, 
 which would then fall an easy prey into his hands. And hence, in order to be ready for 
 such a contingency, the great anxiety evinced to cast guns, and to collect fire-arms and 
 other military stores. Hence, also, no Talain or inhabitant of Pegu is ever allowed to 
 
 * The loyalty of these districts would seem to have been directed rather to the family than to the 
 reiguing King. For in the not unfrequent event of the younger Princes of the house levying war against 
 the Sovereign, the standard of revolt has generally been raised at Mout-shobo. 
 
THE MINISTERS OF STATE ; MILITARY AFFAIRS ; REVENUE ; AND CURRENCY. 253 
 
 return home without receiving, in the name of the King, some present, however trifling ; 
 and no opportunity is lost of encouraging strangers to resort to the capital.* 
 
 In present circumstances, Amarapoora will probably become, like Rangoon when under 
 the Burmese, a refuge for adventurous or outlawed British subjects — men with little money 
 and not much principle. And it may be worthy of thought whether, in consideration of 
 this circumstance, the conclusion of a treaty might not, in fact, have tended to open sources 
 of disagreement Under a treaty, some of the adventurers to whom we have alluded 
 would probably before long be emboldened to irritate the Burmese into acts of violence. 
 In their ignorance or anger, the latter might confound the respectable with the dis- 
 reputable, and cases might occur where it would be difficult to deny protection or to refuse 
 redress. On the other hand, where there is no clause to infringe, no agreement to be broken, 
 Government may feel at liberty to exercise a larger discretion in taking notice of, or passing 
 over, such occurrences.! 
 
 On the revenue system of the Burmese Government I am not competent to speak 
 with any fulness or authority. Enough to give a general idea of the subject I have 
 endeavoured to collect from papers submitted to Government by the civil officers in Pegu, 
 and from other incidental information, whilst Major Phayre has furnished me with a brief 
 note on the present Royal monopolies. 
 
 I may refer, however, to Mr. Crawfurd's XVth chapter for a far more able account 
 of the Burmese Revenue and provincial administration than I am able to give. 
 
 The variations in prescriptive system in different parts of the country appear to have 
 been infinite. To be sure this is, or has been, the case in India. But these variations are 
 more surprising in a country containing from two to three millions of people than in a 
 continent containing one hundred and fifty millions. One important element, however, 
 that of the standard of weight, appears to have been substantially the same all over the 
 country. 
 
 The theoretical division of the country would be into Myos, or districts, named after 
 the chief town, which is the proper Mijo. Myos again are divided into Talks, or circles, and 
 these into Yuwas (ruwas), or village tracts. But this is not carried out. There are 
 multitudes of Taiks and otherwise named small divisions which are not aggregated into any 
 larger district 
 
 In the larger districts there is a Myo-woon, Governor or Lord-Lieutenant,J generally 
 
 * Sometime before we went up, five Hindustani grass-cutters, who had deserted from the 8th 
 Irregular Cavalry at Thayet-Myo, were enrolled as artillery men. On their arrival at Amarapoora, each 
 man was presented with 150 rupees and a Burmese wife, who was made responsible for her husband's 
 appearance when wanted. A second payment of money is seldom made in such cases. One of the five, 
 finding the monthly allowance of two baskets of rice insufficient to live upon, ran away and rejoined his 
 regiment. 
 
 t These remarks are from a paper by Major Allan. 
 
 \ The authority of a Myo-woon sometimes extends over several districts, which may then be supposed 
 to form a province. Thus, all the districts at the foot of the Ai-acan mountains up to Tsalen were under 
 the Governor of Mendoon. The Governor of Rangoon generally held peculiar powers over the whole of 
 Pegu, as a sort of Viceroy. He was usually, if not always, a Woongyi or Woondouk. 
 
254 THE MINISTERS OF STATE ; MILITARY AFFAIRS ; REVENUE ; AND CURRENCY. 
 
 connected with the capital, and often resident there. Under him there is a Myo-thoogyi ; 
 whilst each Taik has its Taik-thoogyi, or Taik-ok, each village its Yuwa-thoogyi, with 
 subordinate Goungs (or tithing-men) over small clusters of houses. The Thoogyis are 
 frequently hereditary, but not usually so in the chief towns. When the Thoogyiship is 
 hereditary it may descend in the female line, and if there is no child, it may even pass to 
 the man who marries the widow. 
 
 The cardinal tax over most parts of the country is the house-tax, or family-tax. This 
 seems to be assessed differently in different years, and then not by a fixed levy on each 
 house. A sum is assessed on each circle of villages at an average rate per house ; but the 
 individual assessments are above or below this average according to the supposed capa- 
 bilities of the householder, so that it acts as a sort of rude property-tax. The average 
 amount seems to vary in different districts to an extent scarcely intelligible. Thus, in some 
 of the Prome circles it was six tikals per annum, whilst in Toungoo the average was as 
 high as twenty-seven tikals, and the payment from some wealthy traders rose to sixty and 
 seventy, and even to one hundred. Where the house-tax was so high, probably there was 
 an exemption from exactions known in the other districts. But this does not seem 
 sufficient to account for so great a difference. In Mendoon, where there were scarcely 
 any other taxes, the rate was eleven and a half tikals. And in some other districts it was 
 only three or four, though only levied on those who did not pay the produce-tax. 
 
 Exemptions from the house-tax are numerous. Some were exempted on the ground of 
 military service ; others, as mechanics and the like, bound to give their services to the local 
 authorities when required ; others on account of more frequent liability, from their location 
 on the banks of the river or other great thoroughfares, to meet various calls for personal 
 service, in forwarding despatches and so forth ; others as tillers of royal domains, and in a 
 manner the King's bondsmen. 
 
 The house-tax is said to be assessed on a census, or " Domesday-book," compiled under 
 the orders of Mentaragyi in 1783, soon after he came to the throne. 
 
 Next, in importance is the tax on agriculture. In some districts there was no money-tax 
 on the rice crop, but a certain amount, sometimes five per cent, was taken in kind for the 
 use of the government officials ; and the same is the case generally with crops of pepper, 
 and of onions or other vegetables. 
 
 In other districts a regular paddy-tax is levied, sometimes amounting to forty per cent in 
 kind, but generally not more than twelve or fifteen per cent. In some places it was so 
 many baskets from a certain area of land supposed to produce 100 baskets. This 
 measure, called a pd, a gyo, and by other names, varied infinitely in different quarters. In 
 some it coincided very nearly with an English acre. The measurement is very rude. 
 The lineal standard is a rod of a certain number of cubits, both cubit and number having 
 their local variations. And to crown the accuracy of the process, the measurer probably 
 begins operations by establishing his standard ab initio, measuring his cubit with his own 
 nand-breadths ! Then a different measure is used for tobacco from that used for paddy, 
 and so on. 
 
 More frequently, perhaps, the rate is levied on the pair of buffaloes used in ploughing. 
 
THE MINISTERS OF STATE ; MILITARY AFFAIRS ; REVENUE ; AND CURRENCY. 255 
 
 In one case I find fifty tikals per pair of buffaloes ; in another twenty-five to thirty baskets 
 in kind. „ 
 
 Some townships are royal domains. In these the produce belongs to the King, and 
 practically a large percentage, probably half, is taken in kind. The Ledaugyi, or Royal 
 rice-fields, near the capital, are an example of this. 
 
 Tobacco land is generally taxed in silver. In Prome it paid thirty tikals on a measure 
 of nearly 70,000 square feet. 
 
 Palmyra trees yielding juice for sugar are usually taxed. In the same district the rate 
 was one quarter of a tikal for each tree. Areca trees usually pay in kind. 
 
 Fisheries, both on the Irawadi and its branches, and on the swampy lakes which 
 abound in the Delta, were an important source of revenue in Pegu. The lakes and ponds 
 were generally farmed out at a fixed rent ; on the big rivers and on the sea the larger nets 
 were assessed. In Basscin the fisheries produced a third of the whole revenue of the dis- 
 trict. Sometimes the fishery rent was paid in kind, in dried fish or ngapi. The Roman 
 emperor could not have said of this tax " non olet" as all who have been in Burma will testify. 
 
 Salt also paid an excise in Rangoon and Bassein. It is evaporated in kilns or furnaces 
 of earthen-pots built up into a dome. Each pot paid so much a season, besides a transit 
 duty on the salt. 
 
 Minor sources of revenue were from timber and forest produce, from the licenses to 
 persons who had a monopoly of brokerage on all wholesale dealings, from octroi on articles 
 brought to the town markets, &c. 
 
 The district revenue records do not appear to be preserved with any care. They are 
 usually inscribed on the paraheik, or black book, with a steatite pencil (which is very 
 much like writing them on a slate), and the government officials at the head-quarters of a 
 district do not seem to know much about the details of taxation. A certain circle of 
 villages is expected to produce a certain amount of revenue ; that is all. 
 
 The revenues are generally in every variety of share assigned during pleasure to court 
 dignitaries and officials, from the Crown Prince down to the Royal nurse or the King's 
 slipper-bearer, the " eater" of the district, circle, or village; and this personage receives the 
 lion's share of the revenue, varying from fifty to eighty per cent, or more. The remainder 
 goes to local officials, for whom the produce of certain items is set apart. The actual exactions 
 of these authorities are, however, only limited by their fears of consequences, and the 
 collections are thus generally a good deal in excess of what is accounted for to the Myo-tsa, 
 or "eater." The seasons usually selected for assessment are just after the rice-crop has been 
 sown, in May or June, and just when it is ready for harvest, in December or January. At 
 other seasons the people would be liable to decamp into the jungles or to migrate to other 
 parts of the country.* 
 
 A large portion of official gains, from those of the Myo-Woon downwards, is always 
 derived from perquisites on the administration of justice, in which even the village Thoogyis 
 participate, extracting such fees as they can for settling petty quarrels, cases of divorce, &c. 
 
 * Burney. 
 
256 TTTE MINISTERS OF STATE ; MILITARY AFFAIRS ; REVENUE ; AND CURRENCY. 
 
 Sometimes a tract of paddy-land is set apart for the support of the Myo-Woon and his 
 subordinates. In some districts the "eating" system is carried very low in the scale; 
 village heads, town writers, and other petty officials, having a certain number of houses 
 set aside for their maintenance. From these they draw the family-tax that would other- 
 wise be paid to Government. 
 
 There is so little system in the whole matter of Burmese revenue, that ft is difficult to say 
 what is ordinary and what is extraordinary. War or other such contingencies are met by a 
 levy of unusual amount assessed on the average of the houses, and these levies are greatly 
 aggravated by the peculation which they give scope for among the officials. Of the money 
 exacted between 1826 and 1831 to meet the British demand for indemnity, it was generally 
 said that one-fourth went into the pockets of the collectors, and a large share of the 
 remainder to the Queen's coffers.* 
 
 The present King has very much lowered the family and other taxes which used to be 
 taken throughout the country. Major Phayre was not able to learn with precision all the 
 sources on which he depends for his general revenue. But he depends for the expenses of 
 his Palace, which must be very large, on the monopoly of the principal articles of foreign 
 traffic. These he buys from the people at a fixed rate, and then either sells them at a profit 
 to merchants at the capital, or sends them to Rangoon for sale there. The principal articles 
 he thus deals in are cotton, cutch, teak, timber, lead, and rubies.t 
 
 For the cotton, his customers are the Chinese merchants resident in Amarapoora, who 
 purchase for the Yunan market. The cutch, timber, and lead, go to Rangoon. The cotton, 
 it is understood, he causes to be collected in the districts where it is produced, the growers 
 being paid at the rate of twenty tikals the hundred viss for the cleaned article. It is deli- 
 vered to the Chinese merchants at Amarapoora at fifty tikals the hundred viss, or sometimes 
 taken by them on the river bank in the districts. The quantity thus sold to the Chinese 
 merchants last year was four millions of viss. Cutch and timber are collected in the same 
 manner. Lead is brought from the country about Thein-ni, in the Shan states, some seventy 
 or eighty miles east of Amarapoora. The mines, it is believed, are worked for the silver 
 contained in the lead, which pays the expense of the smelting, and gives a profit. The 
 King last year purchased 800,000 viss of lead, at five tikals for 100 viss, and sold it at 
 twenty tikals. Teak timber is sold for the Rangoon market ; rubies are brought in rough, 
 and sold at the Palace to purchasers wholesale. On the whole of these transactions, it 
 appears that the profit of the King is as follows : — 
 
 Cotton 12,00,000 tikals. 
 
 Cutch 2,00,000 „ 
 
 Lead 1,20,000 „ 
 
 Timber (about) 2,00,000 „ 
 
 Rubies (say) 1,00,000 „ 
 
 * Burney's Journals. 
 
 t Petroleum, which has acquired a great additional value in consequence of the demand for the Eng- 
 lish market, has very recently been added to the royal monopolies. This system of mercantile monoply 
 in the King's hands appears to have been anciently practised in Siam. — {Boirring, i. 244, &c.) 
 
THE MINISTERS OF STATE ; MILITARY AFFAIKS ; REVENUE; AND CURRENCY. 257 
 
 Or say, 1,820,000 tikals of silver, at 2*. 6d. the tikal ; this will amount to 221,5001., 
 which may be looked upon as the amount of the King's personal revenue at present. 
 
 Certain districts are still given out to the principal Queens and the high officers of 
 Government to eat. Although it has been said that the King has introduced the payment 
 of salaries, Major Phayre could not find that this was the case as regards the Woongyis, 
 Woondouks, and other high officers at the capital ; and the only officer in the Provinces 
 whom he heard of as having a fixed salary, is Mr. Makertich, the Collector of Customs and 
 Governor at Menhla. All the other officers are, as formerly, supported by their districts. 
 
 The only other direct means of raising a revenue is by customs' duties. 
 
 At Menhla, where Mr. Makertich is collector of customs, a duty of six per cent is levied 
 on all produce going down. I believe no exemption is made, except for the King's goods. 
 
 The amount collected is said to be about 5000 rupees a-month. 
 
 At Kyouk-taloung, sixteen miles below Amarapoora, where customs' duties used formerly 
 to be levied, only a toll is now taken on boats passing. 
 
 At Amarapoora a duty of ten per cent is levied on all foreign goods arriving from below, 
 and two-and-a-half per cent additional for the pay of establishments. The latter, however, is 
 an unauthorised exaction. The amount collected is said to be about 12,000 tikals a-month. 
 
 Goods coming from China are taxed at Bamo, and do not pay anything additional on 
 entering the capital. It is believed that the amount collected may be put down at 150,000 
 tikals a-year.* -— / 
 
 There are no taxes on articles of food entering the city, and the inhabitants appear to be 
 altogether exempt from taxation. 
 
 It appears, then, that the King receives the following annual revenue, from the sources 
 indicated : — 
 
 Profit on merchandise ....... 227,500 
 
 Customs' duties, 354,000 tikals, or 44,250 
 
 Total £271,750 f 
 
 As the troops and the greater portion of the boatmen are supported by the provinces, 
 nearly the whole of the above amount may be regarded as available for the personal 
 expenses of the King. 
 
 Although there is no doubt that the amount drawn from the country by direct taxation 
 is very much less than has been extracted in previous reigns, yet it must be most injurious 
 to the interests of the great body of the people to be obliged to sell their staple articles of 
 produce at a fixed price to the Sovereign. We heard no complaints of this ; simply because 
 no one would dare to complain. In other respects the King has endeavoured to introduce 
 many reforms into his kingdom, and the mildness of his disposition, and the suavity of his 
 
 * See page 149. 
 
 t There must be added to this estimate of Major Phayre's, I should think, some contribution to the 
 King's expenses by the Eaters or Assignees of the district revenue, as well as the produce of those lands 
 which are held as royal domains. But the whole Royal Revenue can scarcely now exceed 350,000?. or 
 400,000*. 
 
 LL 
 
258 THE MINISTERS OF STATE ; MILITARY AFFAIRS ; REVENUE; AND CURRENCY. 
 
 manner, must undoubtedly make him popular with all classes. In Appendix I. will be 
 found copies of some of his edicts. Several of these show an evident desire to reform the 
 administration of the Government, and to give his people the benefit of as good a govern- 
 ment as possible. 
 
 The direct receipts into the royal treasury from the Shan principalities which retain 
 their Tsaubwas are believed to be trifling ; but a number of hungry Burman officials fatten 
 upon the Shans in those states which are most completely under subjection. And a con- 
 siderable strip of Shan country, along the eastern boundary of Burma Proper, called the 
 " Myelat Nghe-goon," or middle land silver-taxed, is directly under the King.* 
 
 It is well known that the Burmese have no coinage. Silver bullion is, according to a 
 system at once rude and complicated, the medium of their transactions . 
 
 There was a coinage in Aracan, and a peculiar kind of coinage in Tenasserim, but 
 never, it is believed, in Pegu or Burma. King Mentaragyi expressed to Col. Symes a 
 desire to have minting implements, and Capt. Cox accordingly carried with him the neces- 
 sary apparatus. A coinage was struck and issued. The metal was pure, but there was a 
 little drawback to the success of the scheme, in the fact that the King fixed the current 
 value of his coins at two-thirds above their real value for the silver, and at more than 400 
 per cent on their real value for the copper, prohibiting all other currency, and charging the 
 difference between the intrinsic and arbitrary value as his own seignorage for coining. The 
 usual results of such pranks followed. All trade was suspended for several weeks, till the 
 ministers persuaded the King, not to put his coinage on a rational footing, but to give it up 
 altogether, and since then the experiment has not been renewed. 
 
 Curiously enough our rupees were not merely not current as coin at Amarapoora, but 
 the people were often unwilling to take them at all, except at a greatly depreciated value, f 
 So I have known a Scotch shopkeeper to decline " that small thing," a sovereign, preferring 
 the well-thumbed, indigenous one-pound note. 
 
 In any case of shop-purchase, before arriving at a pi-ice, one is always asked to show 
 the money. Thus a new element of bargaining comes into every purchase; the value of 
 the money has to be ascertained, as well as the value of the goods ; and in all mercantile 
 transactions or other affairs involving considerable payment, an assayer ovpweza is employed, 
 who receives one per cent upon all sales.J He is supposed, on this understanding, to be 
 responsible for the quality of all gold and silver received in payment. These pwe'zas pro- 
 fess to judge by inspection merely, and to appraise in this way within half per cent of the 
 real value. Col. Symes says (p. 327), that in no instance did he hear of a breach of trust 
 committed by one of these pwe'zas ; but Col. Burney, with longer and more accurate expe- 
 
 * Richardson's MS. Journal. 
 
 t In 1567 Caesar Frederick says, — ■" If hee [the merchant] bring money, he shall lose by it." — 
 Purchas, ii. 1761. 
 
 % Besides these pwezas there is another class so called. They are brokers appointed by Government, 
 who conduct all purchases made by foreigners of produce for exportation, apparently with some notion 
 of keeping a check on the exportation of precious metals. They receive a half per cent from the pur- 
 chaser, and a half par cent from the seller, iu all wholesale transactions. 
 
THE MINISTERS OF STATE ; MILITARY AFFAIRS ; REVENUE; AND CURRENCY. 259 
 
 rience of them, calls them a sad, nefarious set, quite unworthy of tins high character. Their 
 power of appraising is also much less than they profess. Burney found the valuations of 
 some of those esteemed most skilful to differ as much as ten per cent among themselves. 
 
 Adding this percentage or brokerage to the loss by frequent melting, including, doubt- 
 less, some considerable embezzlement by the operations, which is estimated at from one to 
 two per cent on each process ; and considering that all the silver current in the country is 
 believed to go through the melting-pot on the average twice a-year,* some idea may be 
 formed of the great cost and wastefulness of this system of currency, f 
 
 The lowest weight in the Burmese scale is the little red and black pea {alrus precatorins), 
 of which a packet is sometimes sent home from India for the amusement of children. It is 
 called by the Burmese, Yow&,\ and 160 yowfe are reckoned to a Kyat, ortikal. The tenth 
 of a tikal is a moo. — Gold, in reference to its purity, is divided into tenths, or moos; pure 
 gold being often moos, and the best current among the merchants nine-and-a-half. Deep- 
 coloured or red gold is admired by the Burmese, and, I believe, they heighten the colour 
 artificially. The best gold commonly fetches nearly twenty times its weight in silver. 
 
 The old travellers of the sixteenth century talk often of Gansa as a mixture of copper and 
 lead, apparently stamped, which was the current money of Pegu in that age.§ Copper is 
 not in any part of Burma used as currency now, but lead is commonly passed in all the 
 bazars for small purchases, and baskets of it for exchange are always a prominent object in 
 the markets. It is used in rude lumps, varying from half an ounce to a pound or so in 
 weight. The price, when we were at Amarapoora, was 100 viss of lead for six-and-a-half 
 tikals of the best silver. ,— ■ 
 
 Cowries are never used for small currency in Burma. But rice is often used in petty 
 transactions among villagers. 
 
 The purest silver current m Burma is called Bau. It contains three or four per cent of 
 alloy, but not more. This degree of purity cannot be given by the pwezas to small pieces of 
 
 * Every Burmese seems to have a passion for turning (and diminishing) his money in this fashion. 
 — (Major Phayre) 
 
 t Mr. Crawfurd (p. 433) estimates the loss in melting at one per cent. My informant, Mr. Spears, 
 estimated it at two per cent. 
 
 Mr. Crawfurd, estimating the whole cost of assay at two-and-a-half per cent, says, that the process 
 repeated forty times would absorb the original amount. This is a mistake however, it seems to me, 
 originating in his treating the cost of each operation as two-and-a-half per cent of the origiixal, and not 
 of the constantly-diminishing, amount. 
 
 X "It is a popular belief that they almost uniformly weigh exactly one grain troy; but I have 
 weighed many, and found them to vary from one to two grains." — Mason's Nat. Prod, of Burma, p. 196. 
 
 § Thus Csesar Frederick : — " The current money that is in this Citie, and throughout all this kingdom, 
 is called Gansa, or Ganza, which is made of copper and lead. It is not the money of the King, but 
 every man may stampe it that will, because it hath his [its] just partition or value ; but they make many 
 of them false by putting overmuch lead into them, and those will not pass, neither will any take them. 
 With this money Ganza you may buy gold or silver, rubies and muske, and other things. For there is 
 no other money current amongst them. And gold, silver, and other merchandise are at one time dearer 
 than another, as all other things bee." — Purchas, ii. 1717-18. A little more than a century later Captain 
 Alexander Hamilton speaks of " Ganse or lead, which passeth all over the Pegu dominions for money." 
 — New Account of the East Indies, 1727, ii. 41. 
 
 
260 THE MINISTERS OF STATE ; MILITARY AFFAIRS ; REVENUE ; AND CURRENCY. 
 
 metal, according to Col. Burney. I believe it is the money in which the foreign merchants 
 at Amarapoora usually demand to be paid by the shopkeepers. The'_King again receives 
 no payments in bau ; because, as I was told, the value of the lower alloy, called Dain, is 
 more easily tested. 
 
 The variety next in purity to bau is Kliayobat, so called from Khayo, a univalve shell, and 
 pat, circle or winding, in consequence of the spiral lines or efflorescence on the surface. It 
 is said to consist of nineteen-and-a-half parts bau to half a part of copper. An expert 
 pweza, however, it is said, can make it ; that is to say, can produce the necessary marks, 
 with three-fourths instead of one-half of copper.* Supposing the bau to contain four per 
 cent of alloy, khayobat will, according to the former proportions, contain 6.4 per cent. 
 
 Next comes dain, the purest kind of which is formed of nineteen parts bau to one of 
 copper, or contains about 9.6 of absolute alloy. This used to be the money most extensively 
 current in commerce with foreigners. All the China trade is carried on with dain. 
 
 Dain and khayobat are cast in large disks, weighing twenty tikals and upwards. 
 
 Yowet-ni {red-leaf), or flowered silver, so called from certain stars or radiating lines on 
 the surface, is the standard currency in which accounts are kept, the " current money with 
 the merchant," f and which is understood to be the medium of payment when no stipulation 
 as to the kind of money is made. It is that in which revenue is assessed. It is cast in 
 pieces of five to seven tikals in weight. Even about this standard there seems to be uncer- 
 tainty, for the best yowet-ni is stated to have only ten per cent copper to ninety of bau, whilst 
 Burney states the composition of yowet-ni at fifteen per cent copper to eighty-five of bau. This 
 last, appears to be the standard. J The different qualities of dain are distinguished by their 
 
 * Burney. t Gen. xxiii. 
 
 X Colonel Burney thus describes the process of making Yowet-ni, which he caused to be performed 
 in his presence by the Pwezas. " They first purified the silver and converted it into Bau, in which pro- 
 cess they contrived to remove some of the metal with the scoria) by the rough tools with which they 
 cleared the top and sides of the boiling silver. The crucible consisted only of a small saucer or mould, 
 which was covered up with charcoal, and occasionally exposed to view, when a piece of plank, one-and-a- 
 half foot long and four inches broad, was used to clean the surface of the silver and prevent the metal 
 from cooling. After the silver was purified, the requisite portion of copper was added, and when the 
 whole was in fusion the saucer was removed from the fire ; and whilst the plank above-mentioned, which 
 was blazing, was held a little above the metal, so as to allow the flame to play upon it, a little lead was 
 melted in, by being nibbed on the edge of the saucer, and the Pweza then blew through a small bamboo 
 upon the metal, gently and regularly, until he observed the surface cool a little, and show the first lines 
 of the stars or flowers, like milk beginning to cream. If these were not of the form required, he put the 
 crucible into the fire again ; if they were, he immediately covered up the metal with three or four folds 
 of cloth, wetted and cut round, so as to fit the top of the crucible. The object of the blazing piece of 
 plank seemed to be to make the silver cool more gradually, and that of the wet cloth to fixthe particular 
 star or flower required, the moment the first lines of it appeared, and to prevent any after alteration." 
 The Burmese said the flowers could not be produced without the lead. Some Khayobat was made in 
 ]ike manner. Whilst one Pweza was blowing on the silver the rest held up their putsos around him, to 
 keep the external air from the metal. They fused the silver four times before it showed a good Yowet-ni 
 flower, and they managed to convert fifteen tikals of ten per cent Dain (after adding to it nearly two- 
 and-a-quarter tikals of copper) into a piece of Yowet-ni of precisely the same weight ! — (MS. Notes on 
 Burmese Currency; in Foreign Office, Calcutta.) See also Prinsep's useful Tables, on coins, weights, 
 and measures, where the assay value of these different kinds of silver, forming part of the Burman 
 indemnity, as given is determined in the Calcutta mint. 
 
THE MINISTERS OF STATE ; MILITARY AFFAIRS ; REVENUE; AND CURRENCY. 261 
 
 relation to yowel-ni. Thus the best dain is called ten per cent above yoioet-ni, or simply 
 " ten per cent dain.'" Five per cent dain is the lowest bullion properly entitled to that 
 name. 
 
 There are also many degrees in the scale of current bullion recognised below yowet-ni, 
 down at least to what is called eighty per cent silver; such, that is to say, that 180 tikals of 
 it are equal to 100 of yowet-ni. But all below fifty per cent is by the King's order liable to 
 confiscation. These inferior currencies are common in the provinces, but not in the capital. 
 Before the war of 1824 the currency of Rangoon used to be twenty-five per cent silver. 
 After that war it was ten per cent silver. Since the annexation of Pegu, it is needless to 
 Bay that the Anglo-Indian coinage has been established as the currency. 
 
CHAPTER XII. 
 
 ON THE MAP OF BURMA J DESCRIPTIVE GEOGRAPHY ; AND POPULATION. 
 
 D'Anville's Errors — Old Surveys of the Irawadi — Rennell — Symes's Mission first gave Shape to the 
 Geography, through his Companions, Wood and F. Buchanan — Knowledge gained during and after 
 the First War — Dr. Richardson's Journeys — Captain Macleod's, Pemberton's — Hannay, Bayfield, 
 and Griffith — Interruption to Geographical Acquirements — Our Later Acquisitions — Pemberton's 
 Large Map- — Map accompanying this Report — Chief Steps in its Construction — Best Way of 
 representing Unsurveyed Mountains — Long-existing Error in Assigned Comparative Longitudes — 
 Illustrations of this — What the Kings of Ava consider their Legitimate Dominion — The Acme of 
 Burmese Power — The Tributary Shan States — TheMyamma Races — The strange River-system of 
 Buchanan's Map — Convenient Division of the Burmese Territory as it was in 1852 — Northern 
 Burma — Burma Proper — Pegu — Eastern Shan States- — Sketch of the Mountain-systems of Burma 
 and its Frontiers — The Burman Lowlands not a continuous Plain like that of Upper India — Suicidal 
 Folly of the Government — Description of Burma — The Sources of the Irawadi — The Khamtis, 
 Singphos, and Kakhwens — Mogoung and its River — The Valley of Hookhong, Payen-dwen, or the 
 Amber-mines — The ILapai Singphos — The Pat-koi passes into Assam — Singpho Villages — The 
 Upper Kyen-dwen — Revert to Description of the Irawadi — The Upper Kyouhdwen, or Defile — The 
 Pwons and Kakhyer/Caterans — Great Depth of the River — The Bamo River — Bam6 — Great Flexure 
 of the River — Second Defile — Kakhyens and Paloungs — Chinese Frontier — Boundary between 
 Northern Shans and Burma Proper — The Shweli — Mauroya — The Kad6s — Teak Forests — Tagoung 
 and Old Pagan — The Third Defile — Shwe-oo-doung — The Ruby-mines — Kyouk Myoung — The 
 Valley of Ava — Great Deflection of the River — Mouths of the Kyen-dwen — The Middle Course of 
 the Kyen-dwen — The Ooroo Valley and Mines of Noble Serpentine — The Valley of Kabo — The 
 Lower Kyen-dwen — The Khyens, Kookis, and Nagas — Country between Irawadi and Kyen-dwen — 
 The Moo River — Mout-shobo — The Yau Country — Tsalen District — The Aeng Pass — Pass to Talak 
 in Aracan — Other Passes — Toungoo Road — Alegyo Pass — General Character of the Passes — Strange 
 Denudation of Foliage on Burmese Side — The Khyens — Mendoon District — Country East of the 
 Irawadi — The Peguan Yoma — Shan Mountains — Wheat — Pegu Described — The Peguan Yoma — 
 Shwe Dagon — Talain Names — -Valley of the Irawadi — The Delta — The Sitang — Ethnography of 
 Pegu — The Talains — The Karens — The Toungthoos — Population of Burma — Former Estimates — 
 Data and Deductions. 
 
 The Mission of Colonel Symes, in 1795, first gave shape to the geography of Burma. 
 
 The celebrated geographer, D'Anville, had so little real acquaintance with these 
 regions, as to consider it probable that the Aracan river, and other tidal channels of that 
 coast, were branches thrown off by the Irawadi; ignorant, it would appear, of the intervention 
 of the great Yoma range, which must have been well known to European mariners 
 for two centuries. A greater geographer than D'Anville might have taught him better, 
 had he consulted Ptolemy.* He made the old confusion, too, which seems somehow to 
 
 * See Chapter viii., near the beginning. 
 
Aii attempt to represent the 
 
 HISTORICAL CEOCRAPHYofthe BURMESE COUNTRIES 
 
 AT SEVERAL EPOCHS. 
 
 
 About AD. 1500 
 
 Alxmi AD. 1580. 
 
 AD. 1822. 
 
 AD. 1856. 
 
 Day£S<n.htXH 
 
ON THE MAP OF BURMA. ; DESCRIPTIVE GEOGRAPHY ; AND POPULATION. 263 
 
 be inherent in the nature of things, between the Pegu river, the Sitang, and the Salwen.* 
 And misled by, or misapprehending, an old Dutch MS. chart of the Irawadi which 
 he greatly prized, he carried the city of Ava more than three degrees too far to the 
 north, f 
 
 A survey of the general course of the Irawadi from Negrais to Kyouk Myoung was 
 made by Capt. George Baker, of whose accuracy Rennell expresses a high opinion, when 
 he went ambassador to Alompra, in 1756. A copy of this, and of another more detailed 
 chart from a Dutch source, supplied by Major Rennell, will be found in Dalrymple's 
 Oriental Repertory. 
 
 Rennell himself, however, fell into errors in regard to the geography of these countries. 
 He supposed the Lookiang of China to be the upper course of the Irawadi,| and the river 
 of Aracan, which is in reality a mountain-stream of no great length, he conjectured to 
 be the debouchment of the Kenpoo, one of the Tibetan rivers in the maps of Duhalde.§ 
 
 Symes had the good fortune to be accompanied on his Mission by an excellent practical 
 surveyor, Colonel Wood of the Bengal Engineers (then an Ensign), and by a great 
 geographer, Dr. Francis Buchanan. Wood produced the first good survey of the Irawadi 
 to Ava; and Buchanan, by the diligence and sagacity with which he taught travelled 
 Burmese to record their information in rude but valuable maps, filled the utter blanks 
 which had hitherto existed throughout the interior of the country; and fixed even such 
 remote places as Bamo and Mogoung with no contemptible approach to accuracy. His 
 materials were made use of by Dalrymple in the small map accompanying Symes's 
 narrative, but they were not published by himself, or in full, till many years after- 
 wards. || 
 
 No further advance was made in Burmese geography till the war of 1824-26. This 
 added little to our knowledge of Burma Proper, so much were operations confined to the 
 river banks. But two of the passes between the Irawadi and the sea were traversed and 
 mapped, and an army of surveyors was thrown upon the northern frontier; Bedford, 
 Wilcox, Bedingfield, and others, on Assam and its borders; Grant and Pemberton in 
 
 * A confusion which even Mrs. Somerville does not seem wholly to have escaped. — See Physical Geo- 
 graphy, ed. 1849, i. 394. 
 
 f See D'Anville's Eclaircissemens Geographiqv.es sur la Carte de Vlnde, p. 144. The map itself I 
 cannot find in Calcutta. There is a map of Southern Asia, however, in the large Universal Atlas, pub- 
 lished in 1795, which seems to be taken from D'Anville in this part. The Dutch chart was evidently 
 not far wrong in the form of the river, but has been by some blunder shoved bodily up from 3° to 4° ; 
 Digan (Rangoon) being placed in 19 a 30', instead of 16 3 47', Prome in 22° 30', instead of 18° 48', and Ava 
 as mentioned in the text. 
 
 X Memoir of Map of Hind. p. 296. 
 
 § Ed. Phil. Journal, iii. 38. The Kenpoo is probably the eastern branch which joins the T'sanpoo, 
 before issuing into Assam as the Dihong. 
 
 || Under his changed name of Hamilton, in the Edinburgh Philosophical Journal, vols, ii.-vii. and x., 
 and in Brewster's Edinburgh Journal of Science, vols, i.-iv. 
 
 Buchanan's Journal during the Mission has never, I believe, been published in full. There were two 
 copies of it in Calcutta, one in the Home Office, the other in the Surveyor-General's Office. Neither of 
 them can now be found, but it must exist in the India House. 
 
264 ON THE MAP OF BURMA ; DESCRIPTIVE GEOGRAPHY; AND POPULATION. 
 
 Munnipoor. The western sources of the Irawadi were reached by Wilcox ; much informa- 
 tion was obtained concerning the course of the Kyen-dwen, and its lower valley was surveyed 
 by Lieut. Montmorency, in 1828. 
 
 In the succeeding years, after our establishment at Maulmain, during Mr. Blundell's 
 tenure of the Commissionership there, and Col. Burney's residence at Ava, knowledge 
 continued to accumulate. Dr. Richardson commenced a series of arduous journeys to the 
 Shan states, with a view of encouraging trade to Maulmain. In 1829 he reach Laboung, 
 in the immediate vicinity of Zimme\ In 1834, and again in 1835, he repeated his journey 
 by different routes, and reached that town, the Jangomai of the old writers, unvisited by 
 any European traveller for two centuries.* In 1837 he, for the third time, visited Zimme, 
 and proceeded northward through the Shan Tsaubwaships of Mokme, Mone, and Nyoung- 
 yuwe, to Ava.f In the same year Capt. Macleod penetrated through Zimme to the 
 remote Shan state of Kiang Hung, on the Cambodia river, and nearly on the borders of 
 China4 In 1830 Capt. Pemberton was allowed to proceed by the Kyen-dwen and Irawadi 
 from the Munnipoor frontier to Ava, and from Ava to Aracan by the Aeng pass. In 1831 
 Dr. Richardson, then at Ava with Col. Burney, had the opportunity of visiting part of Burma 
 Proper, previously unexplored, being permitted to travel from Ava through the districts of 
 Mout-shobo and Dibayen, to Kendat, on the Munnipoor frontier. § In 1833 Capt. Macleod 
 also proceeded to Kendat, but the journey was made by water. He produced a revised 
 survey of the lower course and mouths of the Kyen-dwen.|| In the end of 1835 Singpho 
 outrages on the Assam frontier induced the Government to call for the interference of the 
 Burmese, and Col. Burney was enabled to depute the commandant of his escort, Capt. 
 Hannay, to accompany the Burmese Governor of Mogoung to the north. Capt. Hannay, 
 first in modern times, ascended to Bamo, and thence to Mogoung, and the Amber-mines of 
 Hookhong, bringing back much interesting informatiou.1T Again, in the next year, 
 Dr. Bayfield, the Resident's assistant, was sent on a somewhat similar Mission. He reached 
 the summit of the Assam boundary chain, and was met there by Dr. Griffith, the able 
 botanist, who returned with him to Ava.** The revolution, which ended in Tharawadi's 
 successful usurpation, broke out in their absence ; but they reached the capital in safety, 
 and just in time to quit it with Col. Burney. Our intercourse with Burma ceased, and 
 an end was put for many years to the accumulation of geographical knowledge in this 
 direction. 
 
 The annexation of Pegu and Martaban, and the surveys which have ensued, enable us 
 to establish a firmer nucleus for the exacter aggregation of materials ; but it must be said 
 
 * Jour. Asiatic Society Ben. v. 601, 688. 
 
 t Abstract in Jour. Asiatic Society Ben. vi. 1005. MS. Journal in Foreign Office, Calcutta. 
 
 X Ditto, vi. 989. MS. Journal in Foreign Office, Calcutta. 
 
 § Jour. Asiatic Society Ben. ii. 59. 
 
 || MS. Journal in Foreign Office, Calcutta. Map in Pemberton's Lithographed Route-maps, Cal- 
 cutta, 1836. 
 
 "IT MS. Journal in Foreign Office, Calcutta, and abstract thereof in Jour. Asiatic Society Ben. vi. 245. 
 
 ** Bayfield's MS. Journal in Surveyor-General's Office, Calcutta ; and Griffith's Posthumous Papers 
 Calcutta, 1847. 
 
ON THE MAP OF BURMA ; DESCRIPTIVE GEOGRAPHY ; AND POPULATION. 265 
 
 that little addition to our knowledge beyond our own provinces has yet been made. Of 
 large tracts we have still no accurate description. Such are the eastern part of Burma 
 Proper from the Irawadi to the Shan states, though on this Major Allan has collected a 
 good deal of native information ; the Yau country, west of the mouth of the Kyen-dwen ; 
 the mterior of the Doab, between the Irawadi and Kyen-dwen, from Mout-shobo upwards ; 
 and the whole of the hill country cast and north-east of the capital, towards the lluby- 
 mines, the upper course of the Myit-nge, and the Chinese frontier.* 
 
 The map published at Calcutta by Capt. Pemberton, in 1838, was a great advance 
 upon any that had preceded it. It added an extraordinary amount of new matter to the 
 public stock of geographical knowledge, combining, as it did, all the information collected 
 by himself and the other officers mentioned above, during the ten years succeeding the first 
 war. But to have executed such a work thoroughly well on the scale adopted, and over so 
 vast a field, would have required greatly more labour than could be afforded by an Indian 
 official with other duties. 
 
 The following have been the chief steps in the construction of the map which accom- 
 panies this book : — 
 
 The British province of Pegu is taken from a large map by Lieut. Williams, of the 
 Bengal Engineers, which has just been submitted to Government. The map is a 
 provisional one, the survey being incomplete as yet. 
 
 Martaban is from a map by Mr. Hobday, lately published at the Government Litho- 
 graphic Press, at Calcutta. 
 
 The course of the Iiawadi from the British frontier to Amarapoora is from a large chart 
 constructed from the survey of Capt. Rennie and Lieut. Heathcote during our voyage. 
 
 The country, from Ava upwards to Mogoung, the Yu mines, and valley of Hookhong, 
 is from the route surveys of Col. Hannay and Dr. Bayfield ; the former being taken from a 
 reduction on the scale of thirty-two miles to the inch, given in the sixth volume of the Journal 
 of the Asiatic Society of Bengal ; and the latter from a map on a scale of eight miles to 
 an inch, in the Surveyor -General's Office. The lower part of this section, from Ava to 
 Male and Tsampenago, is chiefly from Mr. Oldham's sketch, which is given on a reduced 
 scale in this work. There is a large discrepancy in the latitude of Male, Mr. Oldham's 
 
 * A good deal of jealousy was excited among the Chinese authorities by Captain Haunay's visit to 
 the upper Irawadi, and it was made the subject of remonstrance at the end of a letter received in 1836 
 from the royal elder brother Taukwang, Emperor of China, " who, assisted by the Sagya Nat (Indra, the 
 Burmese version of the Chinese Teen), rules over a multitude of Umbrella-wearing chiefs in the great 
 Eastern Empire," by " his royal younger brother, sun-descended king, lord of the golden palace, who 
 rules over a multitude of Umbrella-wearing chiefs in the great Western Empire." The letter (of which 
 Colonel Burney obtained a translation) concluded thus : — 
 
 " Everything that occurs in elder brother's empire shall be made known to younger brother. With 
 respect to younger brother's empire, it is not proper to allow the English, after they have made war and 
 peace has been settled, to remain in the city. They are accitstomed to act like the Pecpul tree, [i.e. to 
 spread and take such hold that they cau't be eradicated]. Let not younger brother therefore allow the 
 English to remain in his country, and if anything happens, elder brother will attack, take, and give." 
 
 Colonel Burney considered that this paragraph was undoubtedly an interpolation by the authorities in 
 Yunan. — In a Letter to Pol. Department, 16th September, 1836. 
 
 M M 
 
266 ON THE MAP OF BURMA J DESCRIPTIVE GEOGRAPHY ; AND POPULATION. 
 
 farthest point, as assigned by him and by the two preceding surveyors. As far as Kyouk- 
 myoung, Mr. Oldham's sketch is undoubtedly to be preferred. Kyouk-myoung is well 
 known to be the port of Mout-shobo, on the Irawadi, and to be only fourteen miles distant 
 from that place. Again, the position of Mout-shobo, and its distance from Ava, are pretty 
 nearly fixed. Now, so inconsistent with these data was the position of Kyouk-myoung 
 assigned in the surveys of the two older travellers, that Pemberton in his map has actually 
 introduced a second Kyouk-myoung, which has no real existence, in the proper relation to 
 Mout-shobo.* On this, as well as on personal grounds, I should have altogether preferred 
 Mr. Oldham's authority, as far as it carried me. But, on the other hand, the latitudes 
 assigned by Hannay and Bayfield (who both used the sextant) are in very tolerable agree- 
 ment, not only at Male, but all the way up to Mogoung, and I have not, therefore, felt at 
 liberty to throw over their authority; so I have given the latitude of Male somewhat 
 lower than theirs, indeed, but considerably higher than Mr. Oldham's. 
 
 In Burma Proper, below Avaj the interior towns and districts have been filled up from 
 a very valuable map, compiled by Major Allan from the collation of numerous native 
 routes, and from other information. 
 
 The divisions of districts above Ava I have, to a small extent, laid down from 
 information given in Bayfield's MS. Journal. A few other particulars of mountain 
 chains, &c, in upper Burma, have been deduced from the same Journal, and from that of 
 Col. Hannay. 
 
 The part of China which appears in the map is from D'Anville's map of Yunan after 
 the Jesuits. I have, however, been compelled to shift the longitude of the whole 0° 7' to 
 the west, as, after establishing Bamo as far east as was admissible from the authorities, 
 the distance from Bamo to Long-chuen, or Mowun, the first town in the Chinese territories, 
 was greater than could be allowed, on consideration of two independent Burmese routes 
 between those two places, given by Burney in the Journal of the Asiatic Society of 
 Bengal, Vol. VI. And I have also advanced the Burmese frontier nearer to Long- 
 chuen, for reasons founded on the same itineraries. The frontier of China has also been 
 thrown back, so as to exclude the states of Kaing-ma, Mainleng-gyi, and Kiang-Hung, 
 all of which are embraced within the Yunan frontier in D'Anville's. map. From a 
 map by Klaproth, in his Essay on the Burrampooter and Irawadi, and from routes 
 given by Bayfield, a few additional names of interest in this part of Yunan have been 
 obtained. I have also had before me Berghaus's map of Hinter-Indien, published in 
 1832, a careful and beautiful work, but destroyed by the wholesale adoption of Klaproth's 
 preposterous deduction of all the rivers of Burma from the remote mountains of Tibet. 
 
 For the eastern Shan states, the following course has been adopted : — 
 
 Kiang-Hung is laid down in the Jesuit map under the name of Tcheli-chuen-fou-se.t 
 
 * There are several of these duplicates in Pemberton. 
 
 + I was led to this identification by Captain Macleod's incidental mention in his MS. Journal that 
 the Chinese name of the city was Cheli. Since this Memoir was written I have been informed by Cap- 
 tain (now Colonel) Macleod, whom I had the pleasure of meeting on my way from India, that he had, 
 about the year 1840, taken much pains in compiling a map of these regions, which was submitted to 
 Government. Of this I had not found any trace in Calcutta. 
 
ON TnE MAP OF BURMA ; DESCRIPTIVE GEOGRAPHY ; AND POPULATION. 267 
 
 The longitude, therefore, I have taken from that map, with alteration to the westward 
 mentioned above. The latitude was determined by Macleod to be 21° 58'. This location 
 fixes Kiang-Hung 0° 19' farther east than Macleod's estimate, according to which it was 
 laid down in the map of the Shan country compiled under the superintendence of 
 Dr. Richardson, from Macleod's routes and his own, and which was embodied in Pember- 
 ton's map. In that map, however, the Salwen river, say at its confluence with the 
 Thaungyin, on our Tenasserim frontier, was 0° 7' farther to the west than it ought to 
 have been, according to Hobday's surveys. To obtain the skeleton of the Shan country, I 
 therefore took as a base a line drawn from Kiang-Hung (determined in the manner just 
 explained) as the eastern extremity, to the confluence of the Salwen, and the Thoungyin 
 (determined by Mr. Hobday) as the western extremity ; and to this base, as compared with 
 the line joining the same points in Richardson's map, I have adjusted the positions of 
 Zimme, Kiang-Hai, Kiang-Tung, Laboung, Lagong, Mone, &c, but preserving the 
 latitudes in all cases, as I believe that Richardson, as well as Macleod, took observations 
 for latitude. The position of Kiang-Tsen, on the Mekhong, I have thrown considerably 
 higher than that laid down from information by Macleod. This was necessary for the sake 
 of agreement with the route of Duhalde's Chinese travellers,* which is in all other respects 
 so accurate as to be entitled to rule this point. The positions of Mainleng-gyi, of 
 Kaing-ma, of Maing-maing, and of Muang-la, the frontier town of Kiang-Hung, beyond 
 the Mekhong, have been taken from D'Anville, where these towns appear under the names 
 of Monglien, Kemma, Moung-Moung, and Mongla, applying the general correction of 
 longitude. 
 
 The true position of the towns east of Ava, Thoung-ze, Theebo, Thein-ni, Toung- 
 bain, Momeit, is very uncertain. In laying them down approximately, I have considered 
 Richardson's information, as recorded in his Journal ; his (presumed) additional information, 
 as embodied in his map ; a detailed route of the road to China, through Thoung-ze, Theebo, 
 Thein-ni, and Kaing-ma, given by Col. Burney;f and Buchanan's native maps in the 
 early volumes of the Edinburgh Philosophical Journal. The course of the Myit-nge is 
 from Mr. Oldham's sketch, as far as it goes, and the rest from Richardson. But the latter 
 part is, I fancy, on very little authority. 
 
 The Kyen-dwen, from Kendat to its confluence with the Irawadi, is laid down from 
 Capt. Macleod's survey ; the latitude and longitude of Sunyachil Ghat, opposite Kendat, 
 being taken from Pemberton, in his report on the eastern frontier, and those of the 
 confluence, from our Mission Survey. This gives the river a good deal more of easting in 
 its southerly course than previous maps exhibited, owing to a circumstance to be presently 
 mentioned. 
 
 The Aracan mountains, &c., between latitude 19° and 20° 12', are taken from a map of 
 the Aracan frontier, which I compiled in 1853, embracing my own route-surveys through 
 the Yoma-doung passes, in February and March of that year. 
 
 So much of Siam as is introduced in the map has been compiled from a map by 
 
 * See next Chapter. t Jol,r - As - Soc - Ben - vi - 424> 
 
268 ON THE MAP OF BURMA ; DESCRIPTIVE GEOGRAPIIT ; AND POPULATION. 
 
 Dr. Richardson, in Vol. IX. of the Journal of the Asiatic Society of Bengal, and from Mr. 
 Consul Parkes's sketch, published in the Journal of the Royal Geographical Society, 
 Vol. XXVI. 
 
 The remainder of the map has been taken from public sources ; the coast-line from the 
 Admiralty charts; Tenasserim chiefly from a map compiled by Capt. Macleod, for the 
 Bengal and Agra Gazetteer; the mountain frontier, between Burma and Bengal, with 
 Assam and its mountains, the line of the Himalayas, the Burrampooter, and other features 
 of Bengal geography, have been reduced partly from Pemberton, and partly from Tassin's 
 map of Bengal. 
 
 It must be understood that scarcely any of the mountain masses represented in this 
 map are known in any detail ; and some of them are only known in a general way to exist, 
 with a strong probability that their direction is so and so.* In such circumstances, might 
 not some of the old ways of representing mountains, perhaps, be preferable to our modern 
 methods ; either by a simple broad brown shade, as in the copies of ancient maps printed 
 with the oldest editions of Ptolemy, or by a mass of little pictorial papilla?, as in the maps of 
 the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries ? 
 
 In the graduation of the map, the longitude of Calcutta has been assumed as 88° 1 9'. 
 A correction has been applied to Pemberton, Williams, &c, to adapt them to this basis. 
 
 I have alluded above to the transfer eastward of the line of the Irawadi. This I 
 believe to be an important advance in the truth of our delineation, and its necessity I 
 pointed out some years ago. In a memorandum, dated July 1853, attached to the Aracan 
 frontier map referred to above, it was stated that great difficulty had been experienced in 
 combining the materials. This difficulty, it was observed, had principally arisen from 
 what, I had no doubt, was an error in the relative longitudes assigned in existing maps to 
 the Aracan coast, and to the line of the Irawadi, by which the intermediate space was 
 unduly narrowed. I showed that there was not nearly room enough to introduce in their 
 proper proportions the various surveys that had been made of the transverse passes from 
 the Irawadi to the sea, and that the adaptation of these surveys to the limits of the pub- 
 lished maps involved an amount of mutilation sufficient to scare Procrustes himself. The 
 memorandum proceeded : — 
 
 " The maps of the Aeng road afford us an example of the mutilation that has been 
 practised. From Maphe Myo, at the eastern base of the mountains, to Memboo on the 
 Irawadi, a pretty straight and level road, Captain Pemberton's route-table gives three 
 marches, amounting in all to thirty-eight miles ; and the distance on a straight line measured 
 on his accompanying route-map is thirty miles. Yet the same Captain Pemberton, at the 
 same time, published an elaborate map of the whole eastern frontier, and there we find 
 this same distance from Maphe to Memboo laid down as ten miles instead of thirty, because 
 the assigned longitude could not afford more. And so it remains on the latest published 
 maps. 
 
 * In the map of the Aracan frontier above referred to, I tried to indicate the difference between the 
 observed and the probable, by a decided difference in shade. But in the copies of the map I find this 
 difference has almost evaporated. 
 
ON THE MAP OF BURMA ; DESCRIPTIVE GEOdRAPIIY ; AND POPULATION. 269 
 
 " That is what has happened when an attempt has been made to construct a combined 
 map of the two regions, the sea-coast and the Irawadi valley. Quite as curious an indication 
 of something wrong may be seen in the maps in which no such combination is attempted. 
 Take Wood's survey of the Irawadi. There you will see the mountains carried parallel 
 to the river at what appeared to that officer a proper distance westward ; and the conse- 
 quence is, that the southern part of Aracan is suppressed altogether, hustled into the sea, in 
 fact. On the other hand, look at Fytch's drawing of the Sandoway Province. He carries 
 the ridge of the Yoma boldly up to the ninety-fifth meridian, or nearly so, that he may 
 have a proper quantity of room for his own district, leaving, in consequence, no space 
 at all between the ridge and the Burmese river. 
 
 " I believe, then, it will be found that the whole line of the Irawadi requires shifting 
 eastward," &c. 
 
 All that has since been done has tended to prove the justice of this anticipation. 
 
 Prome was found to be laid down in existing maps with a longitude varying from 
 95° to 95° 5.^'; and the highest figure that I could anywhere find assigned to it* was 
 95° 10' 38". By Lieutenant Williams's survey, the longitude now assigned to Prome is 
 95° 18' 15". 
 
 Again, in Pemberton's table, the longitude assigned to Pagan is 94° 34' 10", whilst 
 Rennie and Heathcote's survey now gives it 94° 56' 26". 
 
 In neither case has the survey yet been completed with sufficient accuracy to put these 
 new assignments, especially the latter, beyond question. But they are undoubtedly much 
 nearer the truth than anything that we possessed before ; and, as an example of the result, 
 it will be found that in the present map the distance of Memboo from Maplie is twenty-five 
 miles, instead of being compressed to ten, as in Pemberton. 
 
 The Kings of Ava are said to consider as territory, properly belonging to the empire, 
 whatever was subjected to the authority of five of their most renowned predecessors. 
 These five are Nauratha-menzau, the forty-second King of Pagan, and the founder of the 
 Shwe-zeegoong pagoda there, in the eleventh century ; Mengyi-tsauke, the second King of 
 Ava; Tshen-byoo-myayen, the great King of Pegu, and conqueror of Ava in 1554 ; 
 Nyoungyan-mentara, the restorer of Ava on the fall of the Peguan empire in 1601 ; and 
 Alompra.f The limits of the Pagan monarchy, in the reign of the first monarch, are said 
 to be indicated on a stone inscription at Shwe-zeegoong. In its largest development it 
 appears temporarily to have ruled over Pegu, Martaban, and Tavoy ;} and towards China 
 it extended over that western part of Yunan still chiefly occupied by Shans, and including 
 the town of Momyen, or Tengyechoo.§ The northern part of the Irawadi basin, embracing 
 the Shan states of Monyeen and Mogoung, does not appear to have been permanently subject 
 
 * Table appended to Pemberton's Report in Appendix XIX. In the Index to Black's Atlas, indeed, 
 Prome is put down as 95" 19' ; but this is evidently an accident. 
 
 t MS. Letter to Government from the Resident at Ava, dated 5th July, 1832. 
 
 X Mason's Nat. Productions of Surma, pp. 433, 454. 
 
 § Burney, in Jour. Asiatic Society, vi. 122, 124. These places were lost to the Pagan empire about 
 a.d. 1300. They were conquered again by Tshenbyoo-myayen in 1562, but apparently fell to China on 
 the decline of the empire under his son. 
 
270 ON THE MAP OF BURMA ; DESCRIPTIVE GEOGRAPHY ; AND POPULATION. 
 
 to Pagan. Mogoung, or rather a more ancient city called Moung Maulong, some miles 
 farther up the Mogoung river than the present town, was then the seat of a Shan prin- 
 cipality of considerable extent and power,* which Captain Pemherton has commemorated 
 under the Kathe appellation of the "kingdom of Pong."f And this state remained inde- 
 pendent till 1442, according to the Burmese account, but up to 1512, according to the 
 Shan chronicle quoted by Pemherton. This subjugation, however, was but temporary ; 
 for, in 1526, the Shans of Mogoung had not only shaken off the Burmese yoke, but had 
 conquered Ava, which they held for thirty years. The succeeding subjugation by the 
 Toungoo conquerors of Pegu, and the rise of an offshoot of that dynasty in Ava on the 
 ruins of the southern empire, have already been several times referred to. But the 
 modern kingdom of Ava did not attain its greatest expansion till 1822. At that period, 
 though its wealth was probably inferior to that of the Peguan empire in the sixteenth 
 century, its limits were considerably greater, embracing within the conquered circle the 
 whole valley of Assam, Cachar, Munnipoor, and Aracan, regions which had never been 
 subject to Pegu. J 
 
 Respecting the date at which the Burmese obtained supremacy over the Eastern Shan 
 states, I can find no information. But it appears from the itinerary of Chinese travellers 
 from Siam to China, given in Duhalde,§ that some of the states near the Cambodia river 
 were, at the date of the journey (probably before the end of the seventeenth century), in 
 the habit of sending to Ava the tributary symbols of gold and silver flowers, which are still 
 customary.|| 
 
 Seven races are recognised by the Burmese as of the Myamma stock ; viz. the Rakain, 
 or people of Aracan; the proper Burma; the Talain ; the Khyen of the Aracan mountains; 
 the Karen of the forests of lower Burma, Pegu, and Tenasserim ; the Yau ; and the 
 Tavoyer.lF There are traces, however, in the Burmese history, of even the proper Burma 
 having been amalgamated from various races.** The country of the proper Burma is the 
 middle region of the lrawadi and its tributaries, from about lat. 23 i° to lat. 18£°. To 
 this definition must be added the upper valley of the Poun-loung, or Sitang ; a river which 
 many of our maps since Buchanan's time have represented as communicating with the 
 lrawadi, and even with the Salwen, far from the sea, by strange anastomoses. These are 
 undoubtedly imaginary. High mountains form a barrier between the Salwen and the 
 Sitang, and hills of less altitude but equal impermeability between the Sitang and the 
 lrawadi. The two latter do send out inosculating branches in the lower part of their 
 
 * Letter from Colonel Burney in Foreign Office, dated 18th July, 1836. But, according to one tradi- 
 tion recorded by Colonel Hannay, Maulong was on the Shwe-li, east of the lrawadi. 
 
 ■(■ Pemberton's Report on the Eastern Frontier, p. 108. MS. Despatch by Colonel Burney, of 18th 
 July, 1836. 
 
 \ See Diagrams of Historical Geography in Plate XXVI. 
 
 § Duhalde's China. English folio translation, i. 63. 
 
 || Dr. Richardson fell in with the Envoys of Kiang-Tung carrying these gold and silver flowers in 
 1837. (Jour. Asiatic Society Ben. vi. 1020.) 
 
 IT Judson's Dictionary. 
 
 ** See ante, p. 29, note. 
 

 
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ON THE SUP OF BURMA; DESCRIPTIVE GEOGRAPHY; AND POPULATION. 271 
 
 course ; or, at least, the expansive Delta of the greater river with its intersecting channels 
 spreads to the shores of the wide funnel up which drives the furious bore of the Sitang.* 
 
 The Burman territories, as they were in 1852, might be divided conveniently, but not 
 with any great precision, into four parts. 1st, Northern Burma, including a variety of 
 sparse and alien population, Singphos, Shans, and what not, under more or less imperfect 
 subjection. 2nd, Burma Proper, inhabited by pure Burmans only, or by the descendants 
 of foreign captives. 3rd, Pegu, whether taken as the Delta of the Irawadi, or as the 
 Burman vice-royalty of Henzawadi, or as the original Talain kingdom. Taken as the 
 British Province now bearing the name, it extends to lat. 19° 27', and considerably beyond 
 the largest of the former definitions. 4th, the Eastern Shan tributary states, extending in 
 longitude from the mountains of the Red Karens to the Cambodia river. 
 
 The last possess a certain independence of jurisdiction, having more and more of the 
 reality as they recede from the shadow of the Golden Palace. 
 
 The gorge, through which the waters of the sacred Brahmaputra burst out from the 
 Brahmakoond into the valley of Assam, is formed by the convergence of two great moun- 
 tain chains, which fence that valley from west to east. 
 
 The northern chain, the Himalaya, stretching far beyond Assam, bounds that valley, 
 but as it bounds all India with its awful barrier of unchanging snow. The southern, a chain 
 of far less altitude and celebrity, and of no one name, is co-extensive with the valley which 
 it limits and defines, and may conveniently be termed the Assam chain, as it has been, I 
 believe, in some Atlases. 
 
 Rising suddenly from the plains of Eastern Bengal, as from a sea, about 220 miles N. E. of 
 Calcutta, it stretches eastward in a broadening chaos of woody spurs and ridges, and grassy 
 undulating table-lands, taking successively the names of the races which inhabit it, Garos, 
 Kasias, and Nagas of many tribes ; ever increasing in the elevation of its highest points, 
 from 3000 and 4000 feet among the Garos, to 6000 among the Kasias, 8000 and 9000 in 
 the region north of Munnipoor, till, sweeping north-eastward in a wide mass of mountain 
 of which the general direction only is known, it emerges to knowledge again as the Pat-koi, 
 traversed by the Burman armies in their Assamese inroads ; farther on abreast of the 
 Brahmakoond rises to a height of 12,000 and 14,000 feet, and then, coming in contact with 
 the spurs of the waning Himalayas, lifts itself into the region of eternal snow, and stretching 
 still eastward embraces its northern rival, and forms that amphitheatre of snowy peaks, 
 glorious, doubtless, but unseen as yet by European eye, in which the Brahmaputra has its 
 earliest springs. 
 
 This lofty prolongation of the southern chain, known now as the Langtang, sends down 
 from the snows of its Southern face the head-waters of the Irawadi. Beyond the eastern 
 sources of the river it strikes southward a great meridian chain, snow-capt in places like 
 the parent ridge, and from old time the bounding wall of China to the westward. It is 
 called by the Singpho tribes, which cluster round the roots of all these mountains of 
 
 * This great disproportionate funnel-mouth probably led to the old confusion of the Sitang with the 
 Salwen. It was thought the big mouth must belong to a big river. 
 
272 
 
 ON THE MAP OF BURMA ; DESCRIPTIVE GEOGRAPHY ; AND POPULATION. 
 
 northern Burma, the Goolansigoung, and its offshoots stretch with a variety of breaks and 
 ramifications, of which we know nothing precisely, but ever tending southward, between 
 tlie Irawadi and the Salwen, till one of its great spurs almost reaches the sea near Martaban, 
 where it parts the Salwen from the big-mouthed Sitang. Nearly abreast of Toungoo, and 
 170 miles north of Martaban, this chain is known to attain an elevation of 8000 feet. 
 
 The snowy range of Langtang projects its shorter spurs between the branches of 
 the Irawadi, and this side the westerly branch it sends down an offshoot called the Shwe- 
 doung-gyi, separating the Irawadi from the springs of the Kyen-dwen. 
 
 Still farther westward in the Naga country, between longitude 93° and 95°, a great 
 multiple mass of mountains starts southwards from the Assam chain. Enclosing first the 
 level alluvial valley of Munnipoor, at a height of 2500 feet above the sea,* it then spreads 
 out westward to Tipura and the coast of Chittagong and northern Aracan a broad suc- 
 cession of unexplored and forest-covered spurs, inhabited by a vast variety of wild tribes of 
 Indo-Chinese kindred, known as Kookis, Nagas, Khyens, and by many more specific names. 
 Contracting to a more defined chain, or to us more defined because we know it better, 
 this meridian range still passes southward under the name of the Aracan Yuma-doung, 
 till 700 miles from its origin in the Naga wilds it sinks in the sea hard by Negrais, its last 
 bluff crowned by the golden Pagoda of Modain, gleaming far to seaward, a Burmese 
 Sunium. Fancy might trace the submarine prolongation of the range in the dotted line of 
 
 Fig. 37. 
 
 the Preparis, the Cocos, the Andamans, the Nicobars, till it emerges again to traverse 
 Sumatra and the vast chain of the Javanic isles. 
 
 Between these two great meridian ranges that have been indicated, the one eastward 
 of the Irawadi and the Sitang, the other westward of the Kyen-dwen and the Irawadi, lie 
 what have been characterised above as the first three divisions of the Burman territory, 
 and these before the detachment of Pegu might have been considered as forming the king- 
 dom of Burma. The divisions are, however, too undefined to be closely maintained in a 
 general geographical description. 
 
 * It is curious that the watershed between Kachar and Burma, between the tributaries of the Bur- 
 rampooter and of the Irawadi (eventually), appears to lie in the plain of Munnipoor. 
 
ON THE MAP OF BURMA ; DESCRIPTIVE GEOGRAPHY; AND POPULATION. 273 
 
 The tract enclosed by these ranges is not to be conceived of as a plain like the vast levels 
 that stretch from the base of the Himalayas. It is rather a varied surface of rolling 
 upland, interspersed with alluvial basins and sudden ridges of hill. 
 
 The Burman is himself nowhere a dweller in the mountains, though thus girt round 
 with a noble mountain barrier. 
 
 With such a frontier, with neighbours who only wished to be let alone, with such a 
 trunk line from end to end of his dominions as the Irawadi, with his teak forests, and his 
 mineral riches and his fisheries, his wheat, cotton, and rice lands, a world of eager traders 
 to the eastward, and the sea open in front, the King of Ava's dominion was a choice one, 
 had not incurable folly and arrogance deprived him of his best advantages, cast down the 
 barriers of his kingdom, and brought British cantonments and custom-houses within his 
 borders. 
 
 The river recognised throughout its course by the Burmans as the Irawadi * comes, 
 we may assume, from the snowy peaks which separate the valleys inhabited by the Shan 
 race of Khamtis, from the head-waters of the sacred Brahmaputra, in latitude 28°. f For 
 nearly 200 miles below this the Burmese know little of it. In their forays into the 
 Khamti country they never took the river line, and they care not to meddle much with 
 Singphos and savage Kakhyens, who line the mountain ranges on both banks. It receives 
 a branch of size equal to its own from the eastward, about latitude 26°, emerges into the 
 familiar acquaintance of the Burmese at the mouth of the Mogoung river (in 24° 56'), 
 where they turn off in their route to the so-called city of that name, once the head of a 
 nourishing Shan principality, of which MS. histories exist professing to commence from 
 the eightieth year of our era,} now a poor village in the centre of a damp, unhealthy, and 
 dreary plain, scantily cultivated by the remnants of the Shan population. Mogoung gives 
 name to a Woon-ship, or province, which nominally includes the whole breadth of Burma 
 to the Assam hills, and is the residence of the Governor of these northern tracts when he 
 comes from court to express such revenue as they will yield. 
 
 The Mogoung river is tortuous and subdivided, with occasional rapids ; but boats of 
 some considerable size ascend it, and several of its branches above Mogoung are navigable 
 by canoes. One of its most considerable tributaries, the Endau-Khyong,§ has its source 
 in the Endaugyi, a lake among the hills, to which the traditions of the people assign a 
 volcanic origin. 
 
 Of the mineral traffic of the province in serpentine and amber we have already spoken. 
 
 * See Appendix G, on the Irawadi. 
 
 f The Khamtis have no communication with the Lamas to the north, but the Khunoongs, who occupy 
 the hills at the very sources of the Irawadi, have intercourse with both. (Wilcox in As. Res. xvii.) The 
 Burmese have no knowledge even of the existence of their Tibetan co-religionists, though there are such 
 within fifty miles of their nominal boundary. But so effectual is the separation of a high mountain 
 frontier, with its accessory of savage denizens. 
 
 | Pemberton, p. 108. This author had very erroneous ideas of Mogoung, which he calls " a wealthy 
 city." It had not been visited by any European when his Report was published. 
 
 § Khyong, or Hkyong, a river or water-course. 
 
 N N 
 
274 ON THE MAP OF BURMA.; DESCRIPTIVE OEOGRAPIIY ; AND POPULATION. 
 
 The greater part of the region is a howling wilderness, exhibiting levels of winter swamp 
 and low jungle intermingled with low hills, and sometimes with belts of noble trees ; the 
 higher mountain range of the Shwe-doung-gyi (4000 feet) running down on the eastward, 
 and screening off the Irawadi from the head-waters of the Kyen-dwen. In the seclusion 
 of its valleys Kakhyen villages are said to be numerous, but few or no habitations are seen 
 in the open country north of Mogoung, till you reach the comparatively peopled valley of 
 Hookhong or Payendwen, the site of the Amber-mines, seventy miles north of Mogoung.* 
 Even this plain does not show a population of more than ten to the square mile. It is the 
 most northerly locality in which the Burmans venture to exercise authority. With the 
 Singphos they rarely or never meddle, but they have sometimes enforced their claims on the 
 remote Shans of Khamti. Passes lead from the Hookhong plain into Khamti, over the 
 shoulders of the Shwe-doung-gyi, a distance of sixteen days' journey, and also direct towards 
 China through the district east of the Irawadi, called Kakhyo-Wainmo. By this route the 
 Lapai Singphos come to purchase amber. These, living on the Chinese frontier, have 
 adopted a good deal of the Chinese dress and habits, and are by far the most numerous and 
 civilised tribe of their nation. From this valley, also, the path traversed by Dr. Griffith 
 in 1837 leads over the Pat-koi range to Suddiya, in Upper Assam. The distance from 
 Mainkhwon to the summit of the range, which is crossed at a height of 5600 feet, is eleven 
 stiff marches (130 to 140 miles), the greater part of which are through dense jungle or up 
 the bouldery beds of rivers. Eleven more, but somewhat shorter stages (121 miles), 
 bring the traveller to Suddiya. The path does not appear to be practicable for elephants. 
 Other passes are said to cross the range a little farther to the westward. 
 
 Hookhong or Payendwen produces salt, gold, and ivory, in addition to amber. It was 
 formerly occupied by the Shans, but they fled from Burman oppression, and the inhabitants 
 are now chiefly Singphos, with their Assamese slaves. The villages generally consist of 
 ten or twelve of the long barrack-like houses of the Singphos, crowded together without 
 order, and almost without interval, within a bamboo stockade ; the exterior of which, for 
 further defence, is surrounded with small bamboo spikes stuck obliquely in the ground ; a 
 favourite defensive device among all these nations. 
 
 . The Kyen-dwen rises in the Shwe-doung-gyi north of Mogoung, and thence passes 
 northward, northwestward, and westward, through the plain of Payendwen, already a broad 
 and navigable stream. After leaving the plain, it curves round to the south, and keeps its 
 southern course till terminating in the Irawadi. 
 
 Descending from the mouth of the Mogoung Khyoung, the Irawadi, already a majestic 
 river several hundred yards wide, soon contracts suddenly to one hundred yards, and 
 squeezes itself for thirty miles through the rocky defile of the Kyouk-dwen, sometimes 
 narrowing to thirty yards, and deepening as it narrows : in the floods a boiling cataract 
 throughout the gorge. Sparse and small villages are here and there in the defile, where 
 Shans and another peaceful race, called Pwons, cultivate their vegetables, sugar-cane, and 
 
 * But said to be extended to upwards of 100 by the windings of the road. 
 
ON THE MAP OF BURMA; DESCRIPTIVE GEOGRAPHY; AND POPULATION. 275 
 
 tobacco. These also have their tradition of extinct principalities and Burman despoilment 
 Kakhyens, a name given to the wilder tribes of Singphos * by the Burmese, keep the hills, 
 whence they swoop down on their natural prey, the Shan villagers, in their ferocious raids 
 respecting neither age nor sex; but they spare the Pwons, with whom they live on 
 friendly terms. f 
 
 At one point in the Kyouk-dwen, where the river contracts to the utmost, the scene is 
 described by Hannay as very striking. The rocks are brilliantly coloured, green, yellow, 
 brown, and shining jet black, and the strata are in an extraordinary degree twisted and 
 inconformable, having exactly the appearance of having been poured out half melted from 
 a furnace. In places the banks descend precipitously into the water, and the depth is 
 immense. Dr. Bayfield states that at several places he found no bottom with a twenty- 
 five-fathom line.f In these narrows the river rises at least fifty feet, probably more. 
 
 Emerging from the defile, the Irawadi expands again to its half mile or more, casts up 
 sandy shoals and encircles peopled islands; takes in from the eastward, some 150 yards 
 wide and navigable for canoes, the Taping river, into which Klaproth strove by dint of 
 Chinese learning to cram all the waters of the Tsanpoo ; then straggles among the sands in 
 front of Bamo, thronged with cotton bales and bundles of silk, with pale Chinamen and 
 black-jacketed Shans, and all the trafficking tribes of those obscure regions. 
 
 The trade of Bamo has been spoken of elsewhere. At the old Shan city of Man-mo, or 
 Bamo, on the banks of the Taping river, in 1837 there were said to be the remains of an 
 old brick go-down, of which the people did not know the history. § It is possible that this 
 may be a relic of the old British factory which Dalrymple conjectured to have been at 
 Bamo. || 
 
 A few miles below we pass Koun-toung-myo, where the last invading Chinese army 
 was discomfited (1769); and so, whilst commencing to curve westward and northwestward 
 in a great double flexure, repeated in a less pronounced form below Amarapoora, the 
 river is drawn again between two rocky and precipitous fences, constituting the second 
 Kyouk-dwen. 
 
 Away to the eastward from Bamo and Koungtoun hills are visible, peopled by cateran 
 Kakhyens, and by breeches-wearing Paloungs, peaceably growing tea for picking. 
 Beyond these hills are other and other ranges, amid which the Chinese Emperor has his 
 chokies and his guards, and the country is all mapped as part of Yunan. But the towns 
 are chiefly occupied by Shans, and their native Tsaubwas are maintained with some 
 show of rule under the Chinese government. Five days' journey eastward from Bamo 
 
 * Singpho is merely the word for man in the language of these tribes. The great nursery of the 
 Singphos, Kakhyens, or Kakoos (as the wilder tribes are called by their congeners, Kakhyen being the 
 Burmese appellation), is along the Sgin-mai Kha, or great eastern branch of the Irawadi. — {Col. Hannay) 
 
 t Dr. Bayfield, describes the Kakhyens of the hills west of Mogoung as wearing a blue cotton dress 
 with red stripes, and thick straight hair cut clean off level with the eyebrows ; very dirty and drunken. 
 
 | And in one place (so he told Dr. Griffith, but has not mentioned it in his Journal) with a forty- 
 fathom line. 
 
 § Bayfield's MS. Journal. 
 
 || See Chapter viii. 
 
276 ON THE MAP OF BURMA; DESCRIPTIVE GEOGRAPHY ; AND POPULATION. 
 
 is the Chinese frontier line, and one day farther the frontier city of Mowun, or Long- 
 chuen-foo. 
 
 As the river recovers from its great contortion, and turns again southward, we pass 
 Katha, once the boundary between Ava and the Shan states to the north.* What villages 
 there are lie on the west ; on the other side is an unhealthy tract of swamp and jungle, till 
 you reach the Shwe-li, a tributary of considerable length flowing in from near Momien, or 
 Teng-ye-choo. Some thirty or forty miles up from the Irawadi the Shwe-li receives a stream 
 draining the valley of Momeit, within the jurisdiction of which are the Ruby-mines of 
 Kyat-pen and Mo-gout, f Nearer, on the northern bank, stands Mweyen, once Mauroya, 
 said to have been the earliest seat of those Kings of the Indian Sakya race from whom the 
 monarchs of Tagoung and Pagan claimed descent.^ 
 
 The Shwe-li is variously described as from 300 to 600 yards wide at the mouth, but 
 full of shoals, and not discharging a great amount of water. 
 
 A little below the Shwe-li, each side of the Irawadi, at Myadoung on the east and at 
 Thigyain on the west, there are the remains of old stone forts. That at Thigyain is said 
 to have been in ancient times the capital of the Kados, a tribe now scattered over the 
 intei-ior of the Monyeen district and that of Pyenzala, west of the river. § Teak abounds 
 in the hills (of no great height) west of the river, all along this tract. 
 
 Not much farther down are the ancient ramparts of Tagoung, and of the upper and 
 more ancient Pagan (see page 30). Thirty miles farther bring us to Male and Tsanpenago.|| 
 Here the river once more contracts into a defile, constituting the third and last Kyouk- 
 dwen, and continuing for more than twenty miles. The strait is, however, not nearly so 
 marked or decided as those higher up the river. Nearly opposite the head of the defile 
 draws in from the eastward, commencing with the bold peak of Shwe-oo-doung,^f that 
 great mass of mountains which runs parallel to the river as far as Amarapoora, and then 
 continues its course to the south, marking the separation between Burma and the Shan 
 states. And not far above the lower limit of the defile is Kyouk-myoung, visited a century 
 ago by Captain Baker, when he went Envoy to the fierce conqueror at Mout-shobo, and 
 where King Tharawadi attempted to establish his capital after his brother's deposition 
 in J837. 
 
 Below the defile the valley of Ava may be considered to commence. It lies entirely 
 on the east side of the Irawadi, the range of hills which terminates at Sagain, opposite Ava, 
 
 * Burney. Sometimes, however, this boundary was as low as Tsanpenago. 
 
 t The Kyatpen mountains are doubtless the Capelan mountains, mentioned as the locality of the 
 ruby, in Phillip's Mineralogy—" sixty miles from Pegue, a city in Ceylon ! " Though it well might have 
 puzzled a geographer to have identified them without the clue of their mineral riches. — Jour. Asiatic 
 Society Ben. ii. 75. 
 
 | Burney, in Jour. Asiatic Society Ben. v. 162. 
 
 § A private note from Colonel Hannay speaks of the Kados as being the most interesting of the 
 northern tribes, "like the Yos, one of the old Burmese races, and similar in type to what we see of the 
 Bhurs and Raujc Bhurs of the present day, a race known by tradition as the oldest of Indian races." 
 
 || The limit of Mr. Oldham's tour, described in Chapter vi. 
 
 11 Six thousand feet high, according to Mr. Oldham's estimate. See fig. 44 in his paper in Appendix. 
 
ON THE MAP OF BURMA; DESCRIPTIVE GEOGRAPHY; AND POPULATION. 277 
 
 hemming the river closely in on the west. The length of the valley from Tseengoo to the 
 high land south of Ava is about sixty miles, and the greatest breadth of plain is about 
 sixteen miles, just abreast of Amarapoora. All this basin is, I should think, richly capable 
 of cultivation. It is not, however, all cultivated ; nor is the population, except within two 
 or three miles round the capital, what one would expect in a fertile soil and the heart 
 of an empire. 
 
 At the lower end of the valley, and immediately under the walls of Ava, comes in the 
 fine stream of the Myit-nge, from the unvisited regions of the northern Shans. Just above 
 this the great river contracts from a mile and more in width to about 800 yards, in passing 
 between the rocky roots of the Sagain hills and an isolated temple-crowned eminence on 
 the left bank, and then deflects with a grand sweep suddenly to the westward, washing on 
 either hand the walls of Ava and Tsagain. This westward course is continued for forty 
 miles, through a richly wooded and cultivated alluvial plain of no great width, bounded 
 by more barren rolling ground of little elevation, till the river draws near the Kyen-dwen, 
 when it bends again to the south, taking in that chief tributary at as fine an angle as that 
 of a railway junction. The extreme outlets of the Kyen-dwen are twenty-two miles apart, 
 the interval forming a succession of long, low, and partially-populated islands. 
 /"^ The lowest and largest mouth of the Kyen-dwen is traditionally said to have been an 
 artificial cut made by one of the Kings of Pagan, and which had been choked up for many 
 centuries, till a flood opened it out in 182 4. It does not certainly appear to be represented 
 in Wood's survey. 
 
 Of the middle course of the Kyen-dwen, between the valley of the Amber-mines, in 
 latitude 26° 30', and the Burmese post of Kendat, which had several times been visited by 
 our officers, both from Munnipoor and Ava, little is known. The Burmese, I believe, 
 scarcely exercise any jurisdiction over the inhabitants, who are chiefly Shans along the 
 river, the Kakhyens and other wild tribes keeping to the hills. The navigation is inter- 
 rupted at several places by falls or transverse reefs, a series of which is known to exist 
 some sixteen miles below the plain of Hookhong, and another, which first bars the traffic 
 upwards, at Kaksa, or Kat-tha, four days north of the head of the Kabo valley, in latitude 
 24° 47'. Not far below this last it receives a large tributary in the Ooroo, near .the 
 sources of which, in a long narrow valley, are the Yu stone-mines, which bring the Chinese 
 trafficking to Mogoung. The lower part of the Ooroo valley is said to be peopled and 
 well cultivated. The serpentine trade all travels eastward ; but salt also is produced from 
 brine-springs in the valley ; and timber is floated down for sale along the Kyen-dwen. 
 Below the Ooroo the narrow alluvial valley of the Kyen-dwen is also tolerably peopled, and 
 affords occasional rice-grounds fertilised by annual inundation. 
 
 West of the river, between the parallels of 22° 30' and 24° 30', stretches from north to 
 south the valley of Kabo.* This valley, the northern part of which was long a bone of 
 contention between Ava and Munnipoor, was in 1833 made over to the former by the 
 authority of the British Government, at the instance of Colonel Burney, compensation being 
 
 * Kabo is the name applied to the Shans in the Munnipoori language. 
 
278 ON THE MAP OF BUliMA ; DESCRIPTIVE GEOGBAPHY ; AND POPULATION. 
 
 made to Munnipoor. It is a long strip, not more than ten to fifteen miles in greatest width, 
 separated from the Kyen-dwen by a range of uninhabited and forest-covered hills, called 
 Ungoching. The valley itself is, with the exception of sparse clearances for cultivation, a 
 mass of forest abounding in varnish and wood-oil trees, and in valuable timber, saul and 
 teak, which, however, is not available for want of water-carriage ; and though its inhabit- 
 ants are remarkably hardy, it is notorious for jungle-fever, most fatal to strangers. The 
 northern portion of the valley, called by the Burmese Thoungthwot, by the Kathes, or 
 Munnipooris, Samjok ; and the southern, called Kale, are still under the rule of the native 
 Shan Tsaubwas tributary to Ava ; the only such who have maintained their position 
 under the Burmese Government on this side of the Irawadi. The central portion, Khumbat, 
 is under a Burmese Governor. Kale is much the most populous part of the valley, and it 
 has an exit for its teak by the Narenjara, or Munnipoor river, which passes through it into 
 the Kyen-dwen. It also produces rice and cotton, with wax and ivory. Kale is one of the 
 sites to which Burman history or legend attaches the dynasty of ancient Hindoo immigrants. 
 : And the classic name of the Kabo valley is Maureeya. The hills on the west of Kale are 
 occupied by the Khyens, a race extending southward throughout the long range of the 
 Yoma-doung to the latitude of Prome.* 
 
 The Kyen-dwen is navigable for the largest boats of the Irawadi up to Kendat, and the 
 trade is very considerable in grain from the lower part of the river, as well as to some 
 extent from the valley of the Ooroo. Teak also abounds in many places along the course 
 of the Kyen-dwen, and numerous rafts are floated down. The last miles of its course are 
 through a broad, populous, and fertile champaign, and presented to us in passing up the 
 great river an almost continuous horizon of palmyra groves, always in Burma a sign of 
 population and culture. From these there is a considerable manufacture of palm-sugar. 
 Strange to say, the sugar-cane appears to be generally used by the Burmese only in the 
 same way that it is used by elephants. A little sugar is, however, made from the cane 
 near Ava. Most of the Kyen-d wen's tributaries from the east are auriferous; and hence, 
 perhaps, the name of Sonaparanta, applied anciently to the country between the two rivers 
 and near their junction ; not improbably the Aurea Regio of Ptolemy, which is, I believe, 
 almost a translation of the Sanscrit name. 
 
 This Doab is nearly bisected from north to south, for a distance of probably two 
 degrees, by the Moo, a river entering the Irawadi, among thick foliage and numerous 
 villages, a little below Kyouk-taloung. The lands on its banks are well peopled and cul- 
 tivated, at least for some miles beyond Dibayen, which gives its name to the district. 
 Near the Moo, it may be remembered, are the villages of the native Christians, f The 
 Moo above this has never been visited, but there are several Myos, or towns, known to 
 
 * Colonel Hannay identifies the Khyens with the Nagas of the Assam mountains. They must also 
 be closely allied to the Kookis. In Trant's account of the Khyens, on the Aeng pass, he mentions their 
 worship of a divinity called Passine; and Lieutenant Stewart, in his notice of the " new Kookis " of 
 northern Kachar, says that they recognise one all-powerful God as the author of the universe, whom they 
 term " Puthen." — (Trant's Two Years in A va, and Jour. Asiatic Society Ben. 1855, p. 628.) 
 
 t See Chap. v. 
 
ON THE MAP OF BURMA ; DESCRIPTIVE GEOGRAPHY ; AND POPULA 
 
 exist near it. The true Burman population probably does not extend much beyond Myedii. 
 Of the surface, we only know that it is traversed by several belts of hill ; the general 
 direction of which is from north to south. East of Dibayen, and fourteen miles from the 
 Irawadi, is the city of Mout-shobo. It has not, I believe, been described by any European 
 since Dr. Richardson was there in 1831. It then exhibited a walled area which he calls 
 two miles square, with a shrunken town of 1000 houses. Myedu, north of this, is said 
 to be the chief seat of the Ehabats, or Kacharces, who furnish a select part of the Burman 
 cavalry. 
 
 The general characteristics of the Irawadi downwards from the Kyen-dwen's mouth 
 have been sketched in the earlier part of this work.* It is navigated to the capital by 
 hoats drawing three feet of water at all seasons ; and it is believed that a channel of four feet 
 six inches could always be obtained, though not without examination. 
 
 Of the Yo or Yau country, lying along the river of that name, between the barren 
 Tangyi hills that line the Irawadi, opposite Pagan and the base of the Aracan Yoma-donng, 
 nothing more is known, I am sorry to say, than was recorded long ago by Dr. Buchanan. 
 The people are believed to be of the same race with the Burmese, but, from their secluded 
 position, speak the language in a peculiar dialect. There are paths from the Yau country 
 into the Kaladan valley in Aracan, which King Tharawadi made some talk of rendering 
 passable for troops, when he was breathing war in 1839. They must traverse the country 
 of some of the wildest tribes of the Yuma, and nothing of them is known. The Yaus are 
 great traders, and are the chief pedlers and carriers of northern Burma. 
 
 South of the Yaus comes the district of Tsalen, a rich alluvial between the skirts of the 
 Yuma-doung and the river, and considered one of the most productive districts of the 
 empire. Through this leads the road which crosses the celebrated Aeng pass over the 
 Yuma-doung, at a maximum height of about 4600 feet, the merits of which, as a military 
 route, have been grievously over-estimated. On the Burmese side it winds for many miles 
 in the channel of a torrent, the Man Khyong ; on the Aracan side its excessive steepness 
 and want of drainage have, in many places, cut it into the semblance of a rugged ravine. 
 Yet it does in more favourable parts preserve the aspect of a made road, which it really was, 
 having been executed by the Burmese about the year 1816, to facilitate communication with 
 their then subject province of Aracan. No skill or judgment, however, had been originally 
 employed in laying it out. It was in all probability only the immemorial track widened out. 
 
 Another road, also partly artificial, leads from P'haing, a town in the Burmese plain 
 some twenty miles north of Map'he-myo, where the Aeng road enters the hills, across one 
 of the highest parts of the Yuma-doung, to the Aracanese village of Talak. It is now much 
 disused, and always was difficult. An unsuccessful attempt was made to ascend it by a 
 part of General Morison's force in 1825. Other paths south of the Aeng pass lead from 
 the Burmese stations of Padeng and Myo-theit to Aeng, from Taindah, near our frontier, 
 and from Men-doon, which is within our territory, to Aeng, and to Mai, on one of the 
 tidal channels opposite Ramri. Farther south still are several passes, more or less fre- 
 quented, to the coast, and over the general course of that of Toungoop, which debouches on 
 the Irawadi at Thaledain, below Prome, a military road is under construction by Lieutenant 
 
 * Pp. 8, 9, &c 
 
280 
 
 ON THE MAP OF BURMA ; DESCRIPTIVE GEOGRAPHY; AND POPULATION. 
 
 </ 
 
 Forlong. Another pass leads from near the rocky promontory of Akouktoung, twenty-five 
 miles below Prome, direct to Sandoway by the large hill village of Alegyo, and several 
 more still farther south as the ridge of the Yuma sinks to its termination in the sea, in 
 front of the projected city of Dalhousie. 
 
 The height of the main ridge crossed by these passes, at least from that of Talak on the 
 north to that of Alegyo on the south, varies from 4600 down to about 3200 feet ; and the 
 route distance from plain to plain is generally from fifty to sixty miles. There are two 
 descriptions of path among these passes ; and each in some part of its course partakes of 
 either character. In the one the road adopts the bed of a stream as its guide and axis, 
 winding along its margin, constantly crossing and recrossing, or blundering up the boulders 
 of its channel. In the other the road attaches itself to the ridge of one of the long spurs, 
 rising and falling as the ridge does, and sometimes with enormous vicissitudes of height, 
 until the main ridge is attained and crossed, generally at one of its highest points. The 
 supply of water is sometimes seriously defective in those passes, especially on the Burmese 
 side, where in the hot months the aridity is excessive, and the whole forest casts its foliage.* 
 From the ridge-paths on either side of the hills the traveller has frequently to go a long 
 way down the hill-side to fill the bamboo that serves him as a pitcher. Generally on the 
 ridge above the spring there is a grassy spot denuded of forest by the frequentation of ages, 
 where travellers rest and cook their meals, almost the only such grassy spaces existing in 
 the mountains. Such halting-places are termed Tsd-kdn (Eat-Rest).f 
 
 r 
 
 Fig. 38. 
 * "A singular contrast is presented by the appearance of the two sides of the mountains during the 
 
 season of my journey (March and April). On the Aracan side verdure still prevails ; the forests are 
 ; thickly clothed, and hide the soil. Towards Burma, all is desiccation and death ; the hills are like hilts 
 ; of ashes, and the forest a collection of dry dead sticks ; scarcely a leaf is visible in this scene of ' torrid 
 I - winter.' "—{Report on Aracan Passes, 1853.) 
 
 f The cut is from a sketch of a party of Burmese emigrants reposing at one of these Tsd-Mns on 
 
 their journey over the mountains into Aracan. 
 
ON THE MAP OF BURMA; DESCRIPTIVE GEOGRAPHY; AND POPULATION. 28] 
 
 Tribes under a great variety of names, and in every stage from semi-civilisation to 
 deep barbarism, inbabit the broadest part of this great western mountain boundary of 
 Burma. The most extensively-diffused of these tribes, extending from lat. 28°, perhaps, 
 to the Assam frontier, is the race of the Khyens ; noted for the singular manner in which 
 their women cover their faces with tattooed lines. Their houses, raised on Ions bamboo 
 stilts, are clustered on the steep slopes of secluded valleys. They follow the practice called 
 jJioom cultivation in eastern Bengal, clearing the hills of forest or bamboo, burning the 
 clearance, and then dibbling in, even on slopes where footing is hard to find, their crops of 
 hill-rice, with a little cotton and oilseed. When the neighbouring ground has all been laid 
 under crop they move in search of new seats and new cultivation. 
 
 South of the Tsalen district, the country west of the Irawadi becomes more hilly and 
 wild. In fact, the Yoma-doung, from the point crossed by the Padeng road, sixteen miles 
 south of the Aeng pass, throws out a great parallel spur to the southward, known in the 
 districts as the Ashd Yo, or Eastern Ridge. The valley between these two ridges is the 
 source of the fine river Matoong, which flows past the town of Mendoon, and enters the 
 Irawadi in our territory, just above the town of Kama. The valleys are cultivated with 
 rice, tobacco, onions, and pepper ; for the three last of which the district has some celebrity 
 among the Burmans, and are irrigated from the deep-bedded streams by large bamboo 
 wheels of nearly forty feet in diameter, which the running water, slightly dammed for the 
 purpose, both drives and feeds. This practice is found also on the Kyen-dwen, and among 
 the Eastern Shan states. 
 
 Of the country east of the Irawadi, from Ava to Meaday, I have before said that little 
 is known except the names and general positions of the district towns, and the routes which 
 Major Allan has compiled. The country, apart from the march of our little army in 1826, 
 which hugged the river bank, has never been traversed by any intelligent European. The 
 impression of voyagers ascending the river, from what they see in the ascent of such heights 
 as are within reach, is (and it is an irresistible impression), that the whole interior of the 
 country is a regular despoblado of dry rolling hills, dotted with thorn-bushes and euphor- 
 bias. This may be true, in considerable measure, of the districts of Magwe, Yenangyoung, 
 and Pagan ; but that it is erroneous, as a general description, there can be no manner of 
 doubt. The tributaries which enter the Irawadi on this side are not many of them peren- 
 nial, at least, in the lower part of their course ; but in the rains they carry large bodies of 
 water, which are diverted and utilised in raising crops of rice and cotton over the valleys, 
 which are sometimes extensive. Of such a productive character is the country round 
 Toung-dwen, watered by the Karen Khyoung and the Yen-khyoung, two of the largest 
 tributaries from this side, and to which cart-roads lead from Patnago, Magwe, and Yenang- 
 young. Villages are numerous in the plain around Toung-dwen (ninety-nine in number, 
 according to the favourite Burmese formula), and of these one is said to contain 700 houses, 
 and four others from 300 to 450. Toung-dwen itself is surrounded by a brick wall, and 
 boasts a few old cannon.* 
 
 * MS. Report by Major Allan. 
 
 
 
282 ON TIIE MAP OF BURMA ; DESCRIPTIVE GEOGRAPHY ; AND POPULATION. 
 
 Between the district of Toung-dwen and that of Yemethen east of it, extends from north 
 to south the watershed range of hills which separates the Sitang valley and the Irawadi 
 from near Pegu upwards. These hills are called " Yoma" by Major Allan. The name, 
 signifying " Great Bone," spinal ridge or chief watershed, in fact, is one admitting of general 
 application, hut it having become extensively known (even among continental geographers) 
 as a proper name applied to the far more prominent Aracan range, it is only confusing to 
 apply it absolutely to these hills. The ranges might, perhaps, be termed respectively the 
 Aracan Yoma and the Pegu Yoma.* The latter appears to die away nearly abreast of 
 Yemethen ; at least the hills are not of sufficient altitude to form any obstacle to the 
 passage of cart-roads, which exist between that town and both Pagan and Yandabo on the 
 Irawadi. 
 
 The district of Yemethen is said to contain a considerable amount of population, and of 
 cultivation in wheat, cotton, and rice. The town itself is considered by the Burmese a 
 place of much importance. It is surrounded by a dilapidated wall, and does not contain 
 more than 400 houses. 
 
 Beyond Yemethen, eastward, come the mountainous regions inhabited by the Red 
 Karens, tribes of whom up to about this latitude intervene between Burma Proper and the 
 Shan states. The mountains are a part of the extensive system which has been described 
 above as bounding Burma on the east, from the snowy sources of the Irawadi to Martaban, 
 and the bold outline of which is seen from the capital stretching away to the southward, 
 Forty miles south-east of Ava, Dr. Richardson descended from these mountains by the 
 Natteik pass, which he speaks of as the longest and most laborious pass in the Burmese 
 dominions, or that is known to exist in any of the neighbouring countries; expressions 
 reminding us of Marco Polo's account of the long descent which led from China into Mien 
 or Burma. Richardson does not mention the elevation of the pass, but another branch of 
 the chain which he had passed a little to the eastward is marked in his route-sketch as 4131 
 feet above the sea. 
 
 The districts of Pen-the-le and Peenzen-myo are well spoken of; and Kyouk-tse and 
 the other districts immediately south and south-west of Ava, stretching to the foot of the 
 Shan mountains, are better supplied with artificial irrigation (from the small rivers which 
 join the Myit-nge before its discharge into the Irawadi) than any other part of Burma, and 
 are consequently well peopled and productive. 
 
 The part of this fertile tract immediately south-west of Ava is known as Le-dwen-ko- 
 Karain, or " The Nine Districts in the Fields." The wheat of Ava is principally grown, I 
 believe, in this neighbourhood. It is used by the Mahomedan population for food, but its 
 employment by the proper Burmese is almost confined to confectionary. 
 
 The Peguan Yoma, it has been said before, dies away, or becomes insignificant, a little 
 above the latitude of Yemethen. From this it stretches south, with a general direction in 
 the meridian, to a parallel a little higher than that of the head of the delta. Here it attains 
 
 * The name of f lalladzet Hills, given to this range in Wood's map, does not appear to be recognised, 
 and probably arose from some mistake. 
 

 .... «'■' 
 
ON THE MAP OF BURMA; DESCRIPTIVE GEOGRAPHY; AND POPULATION. 283 
 
 a height of 1500 feet, its highest elevation, just before forking out into several long, low 
 terminal spurs.* Two of these spurs enclose the valley of the small river of Pegu. The 
 extremity of another is the eminence which has been carved into the terraced base, from 
 which the golden bulk of Shwe Dagon has for two thousand years f 
 
 " Shot upwards, like a pyramid of fire," 
 
 athwart the dismal flats of the delta. 
 
 Considering their moderate elevation, the slopes of this range are steep and difficult, and 
 in the central part it spreads in a wide wilderness of rugged hills covered with impenetrable 
 jungle, and practically barring all intercourse between the two valleys of the province. 
 The whole range to the frontier is wooded, and the remains of the chief teak forests of Pegu 
 are found in the recesses of these hills, as well as many virgin groves of that noble timber, 
 protected by their inaccessibility. 
 
 In the more northern part of the range, where the hills are lower and the jungle is 
 deciduous, some of the tracks between the two valleys are said to be passable for Burmese 
 carts. In the dry season water is scarce in all that tract, except on the banks of the 
 Irawadi and its largest affluents, and is found only in pools dug in the bed of stony rivulets. 
 Towards the frontier also the water, when scanty, is often brackish, sufficiently so in many 
 cases to induce the Burmese to boil it down for salt.J On the banks of the streams rice is 
 grown, and in the hill-clearings hill-rice, cotton, millet, and sesamum. 
 
 These hills, throughout their extent, constitute the watershed between the Sitang and 
 the Irawadi. 
 
 The latter river continues to flow between bold and wooded banks to Prome ; and the 
 whole breadth of the land is, thus far, more or less rugged. Below Prome the valley 
 expands into an alluvial plain, intersected on both sides by low ridges, covered in the rains 
 with the densest foliage, but in the dry season exhibiting a brick-dust soil beset with leaf- 
 less stems. Twenty-five miles below Prome, where the cliffs of Akouk-toung protrude 
 into the Irawadi, this level is, on the western bank, interrupted for a brief space. On the 
 other side it unites with the fertile plain of Poung-de, which stretches from the isolated 
 Prome hills to the foot of the Peguan-Yoma ; and passing southward, continues to widen, 
 till lost in the vast plains of the delta. 
 
 * MS. Report on Survey of Pegu by Lieutenant Williams. 
 
 t See Plate XXVII. The height of Shwe Dagon above the platform is 321 feet ; above the ground 
 level 487 feet. The height of the great Shwe Madau at Pegu is 334 feet above the platform. 
 
 Dagon is a corruption of the Talain name, Ta-kong. The old Talain names of places account for 
 several anomalies in the appellations long given by Europeans to places in Pegu. Thus Prome, called by 
 the Burmese Pyi, is in Talain Praun ; Siriam is Seyung ; Pegu (Burm. Bagoh) is Pe-hgo ; Sitang is the 
 Talain name of the Burman Thaidyen. Maulmain was called by the Talains Mo-hpeleyn. 
 
 For the information in this note I am indebted to my brother-officer, Lieutenant Williams. Maul- 
 main is, however, nearer what I believe is the Burmese name, Maulamyaing. It is the " Castle of Mur- 
 malan" of the old travellers and Portuguese historians. 
 
 Mr. Mason, I see, derives Maulmaiu from the Talain words Moot-mwoa-lem, "the one-eyed-destroyed," 
 from a myth of a Cyclops who founded it. — (Nat. Prod, of Burma, p. 441.) 
 
284 ON THE MAP OF BURMA ; DESCRIPTIVE GEOGRAPHY ; AND POPULATION. 
 
 The delta may be considered to commence at the bifurcation of the Bassein branch from 
 the main stream, a little above Henzada. That branch, though affording the best and 
 deepest access for ships into the heart of the delta, is now entirely cut off from the main 
 stream during the dry season by a bank of sand, which fills the head of the channel to a 
 height of many feet above the surface of the river. In the rains, steamers drawing ten 
 feet water pass without difficulty. The harbour of Rangoon is connected with the Irawadi 
 by the channel called Panlang. This is not navigable by the steam flotilla in the dry 
 weather, and at that season the vessels are obliged to make a detour, analogous to that 
 forced on steamers bound from Calcutta for the upper Ganges, though of much less extent. 
 They then ascend by the channel called by seamen China Bukeer, which is the shortest 
 outlet of the Irawadi, though another, which keeps more the direction of the unbroken 
 stream, retains the name. There is, however, no one of the ramifications which can claim 
 to be the primary mouth. 
 j — A vast labyrinth of creeks and channels cuts up the lower part of the delta into an 
 infinity of islands. Within the full tidal influence these are lined with mangrove thicket ; 
 farther up with forest of a nobler kind, or more commonly with a fringe of gigantic 
 grasses. Scattered along the channels and sheets of water, where fish are plentiful, are 
 small clearances, where the inhabitants devote themselves to the preparation of ngapi, and 
 to the manufacture of salt. But a very small part of these Soonderbuns is under cultiva- 
 tion. And even farther from the sea vast tracts of fertile soil remain in a state of nature 
 or abandonment. The most cultivated and populous tracts are found along the Bassein 
 river ; north of Henzada ; and in the plain of Poung-de. 
 
 The breadth of the whole province, between the meridian chains which limit it, is, at 
 the latitude of the frontier, about 140 miles ; and of the central portion, from the Irawadi 
 to the Sitang, seventy-three. 
 
 The Sitang river, known in the upper part of its course as the Pounloung, is shown, 
 even in some of the latest maps, as discharging from the lake of Nyoung-yuwe, in the 
 westernmost of the southern Shan states; from which also a radiation of other streams 
 was represented as diverging to the Myit-nge, near Ava, to the Irawadi, near Yenangyoung, 
 and to the Salwen, with a great variety of junction-lines between these ramifications.* The 
 sole real discharge of the lake of Nyoung-yuwe is through one of the Red Karen valleys 
 into the Salwen, and the true source of the Pounloung was ascertained by Dr. Richardson 
 to be in the hills south-east of Ava, about twenty-five miles north of Nyoung-yuwe. 
 
 The whole extent of the Sitang valley is about 350 miles, of which one half lies within 
 the British provinces of Pegu and Martaban. The valley above the frontier has not been 
 
 * These features originated in the Burmese maps obtained by Dr. Buchanan. The divergence and 
 inter-communication of rivers appears to be a favourite feature in Burmese notions of geography, 
 perhaps derived from the myth of the great northern lake, the supposed source of all the great rivers of 
 India. Buchanan himself seems to have been so far misled by these notions as to conjecture a partial 
 communication of supply, by such an oflshoot, from the Tsanpoo to the Irawadi, whilst admitting in the 
 main Rennell's theory of the discharge of the latter river by the Burrampooter. 
 
 The natives, it appears from Richardson's MS. Journal, have some fancy about a subterraneous com- 
 munication from the lake of Nyoung-yuwe to the Sitang. 
 
ON THE MAP OF BURMA; DESCRIPTIVE GEOGRAPHY; AND POPULATION. 285 
 
 visited. Below that line the banks are high and hilly nearly to Toungoo, when the hills 
 recede, and an alluvial tract commences, which extends with varying width to the sea, 
 large tracts being enclosed in reuniting loops of the river. As the river descends the 
 plains on the west side widen, but are covered with a dense thicket of jungle and thorny 
 bamboo, giving place near the estuary to a dreary expanse of elephant-grass. The ancient 
 royal road from Pegu to Toungoo is still to be traced over this wild plain. On the eastern 
 side the plain is of more uniform width, but narrower, and gives place suddenly to the 
 mountain ridges which divide the Sitang from the Salwen ; the termination of the great 
 meridian chain which limits Burma on the east 
 
 Population and culture are very sparse and scanty over the whole valley. A secluded 
 Burman tribe, called Yebains, have their hamlets in the wild nooks of the watershed range, 
 where they occupy themselves in rearing the silkworm. In the upper part of the valley the 
 forest trees are of a larger and finer character than in the corresponding latitude on the 
 Irawadi, and they do not appear to be subject to that denudation of foliage which 
 gives the western valley an aspect of so great desolation in the months of March and 
 April. 
 
 The course of the Sitang is tortuous throughout the province, but especially for fifty 
 miles north of the cantonment of Shwegyeen it writhes like a wounded snake, so that the 
 development of the stream would nearly double the actual length of the valley.* Through- 
 out its course it is shallow and full of shoals, over which boats of any size have to be 
 dragged laboriously, in passing between Shwegyeen and Toungoo in the dry season. The 
 lower part of the river presents a still greater obstacle to navigation in the remarkable bore, 
 occasioned by the union of two portions of the tidal wave of the Indian Ocean, which drives 
 up the narrowing funnel of the estuary with a speed, it has been stated, of nearly twelve 
 miles an hour, and with a crest raised sometimes nine feet above the surface. Native boats 
 do frequently make the dangerous entry, but it has never been accomplished by our^ 
 steamers, though it has been attempted. The important frontier station of Toungoo is thus, 
 by the wild nature of the country on the one hand, and by the wilder water-access on the 
 other, deprived of all easy and effective communication with Rangoon, the centre of 
 government, of supply, and of reinforcement. And this has led to the project of a canal 
 from the Pegu river to the Sitang, at a point above the dangers of the bore. A natural 
 channel does exist, through which the spring-tides of the Sitang reach the Pegu river. 
 But examination seems to have proved that this channel can be turned to no efficient 
 account for the object in view. 
 
 The Burman population was considered in former days, I believe, to extend down to 
 Taroup-mau, or Chinese point, about thirty-two miles below Prome, so called from having 
 been the point Turn-again of the Chinese army which captured Pagan, and overran Burma 
 in the end of the thirteenth century. But the majority of the population of Pegu have 
 long been either Burman or Burmanized ; and the genuine Talains or Mons, retaining their 
 ancient speech, are confined to the south and east of the delta, and to the provinces of 
 
 * Lieutenant Williams. 
 
286 ON THE MAT OF BURMA ; DESCRIPTIVE GEOGRAPHY ; AND POPULATION. 
 
 Martaban and Tenasserim. I find very little satisfactory information regarding the Talains. 
 My friend, Col. Durand, during his administration of Tenasserim, induced the late 
 Capt. Latter to pay attention to the language, and to commence the compilation of a 
 dictionary; but it is not known how far the intention was carried out. 
 
 The most interesting race in southern Burma is that of the Karens; among the 
 Burmese, but not of them; scattered up and down through all the wildest and most 
 secluded parts of Pegu and Martaban, as well as Tenasserim and the western parts of 
 Siam. 
 
 There are two tribes, at least, of these known in these provinces. One tribe call 
 themselves Shos, but are called by the other tribe Pwos, and by the Burmese Meet-khyeens, 
 or Talain Karens. The other tribe call themselves Sgaus, but by the Burmese are 
 designated Meethos, or Burman Karens.* Their tongues, though dialects of a common 
 language, and such that a knowledge of one greatly facilitates the acquisition of the other, 
 are sufficiently distinct to be mutually unintelligible. Remarkable fragments of Scriptural 
 tradition have been ascribed to the Sgaus, and doubtless existed among them ; but with 
 strong respect and sympathy for the missionaries, I must say that they seem to me to have 
 accepted these too readily as genuine primeval tradition, without a sufficient inquiry into 
 their possible derivation. Another singular tradition among them, reminding us of that 
 which the Spanish conqueror found amongst the Mexicans, was a longing expectation of 
 white kinsmen from the seaward, who were to bring them deliverance from Burman 
 serfdom, and instruction in the law of God. 
 
 The white kinsmen have, indeed, come from the seaward; but some say that the 
 Karens have found their little finger thicker than the loins of their old masters. I made 
 particular inquiries from the missionaries on this point; and I am glad to say that the 
 idea was scouted by these worthy men. It may well be, indeed, that in many a corner of 
 a country just beginning to be ruled by such a mere handful of strangers, the Burman 
 local officers still exercise much of their old oppression. But the missionaries, who alone 
 know the Karens, for they alone know the language of their two tribes, warmly and 
 indignantly denied that the people looked on the change of rulers as other than a libera- 
 tion and a blessing. 
 
 The most considerable population of Karens appears to be in the Bassein district, 
 where they form the great bulk of the agricultural population, — the Burmese and Talains 
 being principally small traders, fishermen, and mechanics.! After the cession of Aracan 
 to us they spread largely over the hills into the district of Sandoway. 
 
 In the northern parts of Pegu, the Karens are very sparse and few ; and I have not 
 heard of them farther north in Burma than the district of Tsalen.f 
 
 * Mason's Nat. Prod, of Burma, p. 477. 
 
 * Paper by Major Fytche, accompanying Major Phayre's Report of 31st January, 1855, in Foreign 
 Office, Calcutta. 
 
 \ I have before alluded (p. 146) to the belief propagated by Mr. Kincaid, an American missionary, 
 that the Kakhyens of upper Burma are Karens, as put forth on insufficient and probably inaccurate 
 grounds. There seems to be no doubt that the Kakhyens or Kakoos are Singphos ; and no good reason 
 has been stated for considering the Karens to be very closely allied to the Singphos. 
 
ON THE MAP OF BURMA; DESCRIPTIVE GEOGRAPHY; AND POPULATION. 287 
 
 The cii'cumstance which has thrown so much of interest round all that appertains to 
 the Karens is the extraordinary success of Christian Missions among them during the last 
 twenty-five years, a success attended by the gratifying fact that the 134 native evangelists 
 who minister among their countrymen are not exoticised dependants on foreign bounty, 
 but live among their people, and are supported by them. During last year the Karen 
 congregations of the Rangoon district alone contributed for missions among their country- 
 men 600 rupees ; besides 2000 rupees for the High School at Kemendain, near Rangoon, 
 and 2887 rupees towards the erection of a brick church there.* The languages of both 
 tribes have been reduced to writing by the missionaries, and large portions of the Scriptures 
 translated into each. 
 
 The Toung-thoos are another race, few in number, scattered over Martaban and the 
 northern part of Tenasserim, and whose communities are found here and there to a 
 considerable distance up the Salwen, at least as far as the latitude of Mone. According to 
 their own traditions, their capital was once established at Thatung, under a monarch of 
 their own. They are said to be Buddhists, and to have books and priests of their own. 
 Both Talains and Toungthoos claim as a countryman Budhagosha, who first brought from 
 Ceylon the Buddhist scriptures ; but he was, in fact, a Brahman of Magadha. The name 
 Toung-thoo signifies, in Burmese, either Mountaineer or Southron. The name they give 
 themselves is Pa-au.] A specimen of Toung-thoo vocables, as well as of the two Karen 
 dialects, will be found in Appendix M. Mr. Mason says that about half the Toung-thoo 
 roots are common to the Pwo Karen. The lists of vocables show even a greater 
 community. 
 
 It is greatly to be desired that a really good account should be obtained of these races, 
 Talains, Toung-thoos, and Karens, by some one competent to analyse their languages, and 
 sift their traditions. I fear there is no hope that Major Phayre will ever have leisure to 
 take up the subject. 
 
 A few paragraphs regarding the probable population of Burma will complete this 
 Chapter. 
 
 Symes estimated the population at seventeen millions, and supposed his estimate rather 
 to fall short of the truth than to exceed it. The empire was then nearly at its acme ; but 
 the estimate was founded on the most worthless data.J 
 
 Cox reduced this to about eight millions. The Rev. H. Malcolm says that the chief 
 Woongyi, at Ava, told him the last census gave a total of 300,000 houses. The track 
 
 * Calcutta Christian Intelligencer, 1856, p. 53. When the American Society lately resolved to with- 
 draw almost entirely their support from schools among this people (a measure very adverse to the views 
 of the missionaries themselves), four or five of the most respected converts voluntarily went into trade 
 in Rangoon, a thing alien and unknown to all the former habits of the race, in order to devote half their 
 earnings to the support of schools. This they have faithfully done, and in about two years contributed 
 something like Es. 3000 to that object. 
 
 t Chiefly from Mason's Natural Productions of Burma, p. 442. 
 
 I Symes, p. 315. 
 
288 ON THE MAP OF BURMA ; DESCRIPTIVE GEOGRAPHY; AND POPULATION. 
 
 included is not stated. The enumeration referred to is, probably, the same as that obtained 
 by Col. Burney, which shall be noticed presently. 
 
 Mr. Crawfurd made four estimates of the population. Two, based on two estimates of 
 the quantity of petroleum consumed in Burma, were dependent on too many hypotheses to 
 be of much value as deductions, though the usual sagacity of that author guided the 
 results wonderfully near what I believe to be the truth. A third was based on the popu- 
 lation of the Bassein district, as stated in the Burmese records which fell into our hands; 
 and a fourth on the produce of a house-tax, said to have been levied about thirty years 
 before his visit. These estimates are respectively : — 
 
 2,147,200 
 3,300,000 
 4,416,000 
 2,414,000 
 
 The last included only the Burmans and Talains. Of a paper on this subject, submitted 
 at the Asiatic Society by Col. Burney, in March 1835, I find nothing but the following 
 notice :* — 
 
 " Translation of the official registers of the population of the Burmese Empire, made in 
 1783, and revised under the present King, in 1826. The whole population of Burma 
 Proper, from these documents, exclusive of the wild tribes, only amounts to 1,831,467 
 souis. * * * * Col. Burney having kindly undertaken to look over 
 these papers and prepare them for the press, they were re-delivered into his charge for the 
 present." 
 
 Father Sangermano says, incidentally, that the population of the empire amounts to 
 nearly two millions of souls.f This would appear, therefore, to be derived from the same 
 return as that of Burney. 
 
 In both there is an uncertainty as to the area intended. But, most probably, the term 
 Burma Proper, used by Burney, was intended to include Pegu and Martaban. 
 
 The area to which the census applied would, in that case, be about 17 J square degrees ; 
 or, roundly calculated, 78,750 square miles, which would give, on Burney's reckoning, 
 23.25 persons per square mile. The whole existing Burmese empire, including those states 
 and tribes whose dependence on Ava is almost nominal, amounts to about thirty-five square 
 degrees, or twice the area just mentioned. So that the whole population of the present 
 empire will, on this calculation, not exceed twice the amount of Burney's census, or 
 3,663,000. 
 
 If we consider how very thinly many parts of the larger area are populated, such as the 
 large district of Mogoung, and probably the hilly tracts east of Ava, we shall be inclined 
 to consider that this estimate may be taken as a maximum, and sufficient to cover 
 deficiencies in the census on which Burney's calculation was based. 
 
 * Jour. Asiatic Society Ben. vol. iv. p. 180. t P. 76. 
 

 Area. 
 
 Population 
 
 . Square Miles 
 
 9,800 
 
 137,130 
 
 • » 
 
 8,900 
 
 128,189 
 
 • • 55 
 
 5,500 
 
 70,000 
 
 • • 55 
 
 2,200 
 
 103,775 
 
 • • 55 
 
 3,950 
 
 34,957 
 
 • • 55 
 
 1,950 
 
 66,129 
 
 ON THE MAP OF BURMA; DESCRIPTIVE GEOGRAPHY ; AND POPULATION. 289 
 
 Again, in a return made by Major Pliayre, in July 1856, the area and population of 
 the British province of Pegu is thus set down: — 
 
 District of Rangoon . 
 „ Bassein 
 „ Prome 
 „ Henzada . 
 „ Toungoo . . , 
 „ Tharawadi 
 
 Total . . 32,300 540,180 
 
 The Commissioner, however, considers the assigned population much below the real 
 amount. The only clue I have to what he would consider a proper correction to apply is 
 in his remark on Prome, in which he observes that recent information renders it probable 
 that the population of that district is 100,000 instead of 70,000. Applying a proportionate 
 correction to the whole population of Pegu, we shall rate it at 771,686. 
 
 The area of Aracan appears to be, as far as I can make out, about 10,700 square miles; 
 and its population, by the last estimate, is 362,797. 
 
 We shall have then, for Aracan and Pegu together, an area of 43,000 square miles, and 
 a population of 1,134,483, or 26.4 per square mile. 
 
 We estimated the area of Burma Proper, with Martaban and Pegu, at 78,750 square 
 miles. 
 
 Martaban may be taken at 3,800 
 
 Pegu is known to be 32,300 
 
 36,100 
 From this we must deduct the area of the southern part of Aracan 
 
 included in the present Bassein district 1,800 
 
 34,300 
 
 Deducting this from 78,750, we have 44,4 50 square miles as the probable area of Burma 
 Proper, as it is now limited, say from the British boundary to the parallel of 24°. And 
 this area, at the joint rate of Pegu and Aracan, would give a population for Burma Proper 
 of 1,173,480. 
 
 Again, taking Dr. Richardson's itinerary from Ava to Kendat, which extended 
 through what he considered one of the most populous parts of inland Burma, and also 
 through a very badly peopled part near the Kyen-dwen, we find that it gives thirty-seven 
 villages in a line of 221 miles, or, according to the reduced distances as protracted by Col. 
 Burney,* in 176 miles. The latter distance gives one village in 4.75 miles. The number 
 of houses is not always stated by Richardson, but, filling up such deficiencies conjecturally 
 
 * Jour. Asiatic Society Ben. vol. ii. p. 50. 
 
 P P 
 
290 ON THE MAP OF BURMA ; DESCKIPT1VE GEOGRAPHY ; AND POPULATION. 
 
 from the general character ascribed to each village, I find in the thirty-seven villages 3326 
 houses, or ninety each on the average. And supposing the villages to he no farther apart 
 in other directions than on the line of march, we shall have four houses per square mile, or 
 say twenty souls. 
 
 I also find, from a similar analysis of several routes collected by Major Allan, that in 
 925 miles of route there are 155 villages. If the distances in these routes be reduced in 
 the same proportion as Dr. Richardson's, we shall have in 736 miles 155 villages, or one 
 village in 4.8 miles. 
 
 Those routes also in which the number of houses is stated, give us in ninety-seven 
 villages (excluding the capital cities) 9164 houses, or about ninety-five houses to a village, 
 i.e. to every tract of 4.8 miles square, or every twenty-three square miles. This gives 
 4.13 houses, or say 20.65 souls per square mile. 
 
 These calculations, I think, are rather confirmatory of the former estimates. Twenty 
 per square mile would give for Burma Proper, as it now is, a population of only 890,000. 
 But it is to be recollected that this estimate is deduced for the interior of the country 
 generally, and does not apply to the metropolitan districts or to the banks of the great 
 rivers,* which may probably raise the population to about 1,150,000, or 1,200,000. 
 
 The general conclusion at which I arrive is, that the population of Burma Proper, from 
 latitude 24° down to our frontier, does not probably exceed 1,200,000 ; and that the popula- 
 tion of the whole Barman empire, in the most liberal view of what can be included under 
 that designation, does not exceed 3,600,000, and probably does not exceed 3,000,000. 
 
 We cannot turn from this subject without an enhanced feeling of respect for the nation 
 which, with numbers so limited, has long stood forth to the world as one of the great 
 empires of the East. 
 
 * Captain Maclcod, in 1839, made the number of villages on the banks of the Ira wadi, from our 
 present frontier to the capital, to be 261, and the number of houses 28,979. 
 
 Major Allan's list, compiled by natives who accompanied us up the river, made the number of vil- 
 lages 230, but the number of houses nearly double, viz. 53,780. The mean of these estimates would be 
 41,389 houses, or say 206,945 souls, on a line of 496 miles. 
 
CHAPTER XIII. 
 
 THE SHAN STATES TRIBUTARY TO BURMA.* 
 
 The Shan or Tai Race — Their wide Diffusion, with substantial Unity of Language — Limits of the 
 Territory occupied by the States now spoken of — Burmese Authority over them — General Character 
 of the Country — Great Rivers — The Salwen, and the Mekhong — Koshanprf, its true Situation — 
 Ruder Tribes occupying the Mountains — The Lawas — The Name Laos applied to the Country 
 generally — The Kakuis and Kakuas — The Mutsa — The Lau-Laus — The Li-Lun — Other Tribes — 
 Karens — Toungthoos — Yeins, Dumoos, and Dunos — The Paloungs — Indications of Climate more 
 Temperate than that of Ava — The Karen-ni, or Red Karens — Character of the People and Country 
 — Their Kidnapping Habits — The Shan Principalities — Mobye — Mokm6 — Mon6 — Seat of the Bur- 
 man Presidency— Nyoung-yuwe — Kamboza Taing — Tavoy Colony — Traditions of Nyoung-yuwe — 
 ItsLakeandFloatinglslands — Legya— Theebo — Thoung-ze — Momeit — Thein-ni — KaingmaMaing- 
 maing — Muang Lem — Kiang-Hung — Chinese Influence and direct Authority — Importation of Tea 
 into China — Chinese Traders — The Town of Kiang-Hung — The Tribute to Ava — Kiang-Tung — 
 Kiang-Khen — Royal Appurtenances and Insignia of the Tsaubwas of these States — Burman Super- 
 vision — Tribute — Contingents of Troops — Feeling with which the Burmese and Chinese respec- 
 tively are regarded — Domestic Administration — Primitive Habits — Nomination of Successors 
 — Traces of greater Wealth and Population — Principalities tributary to Siam — Zimme — Ancient 
 State of Kyang-mai (Jangomai) — The Town of Zimme — Curious Tradition — Cattle — Elephants — 
 Muang-Nan and Muang Phe — Muang-Luang-Phaban, or Lantchian (Kingdom of Lao) — Chanda- 
 poori, or Wiutchiang — Destruction of the Town by the Siamese' — Mission of Gerard Van Wusthof— 
 All the States have Sacred or Classical Names in Pali — Some of them given — Account of Chinese 
 Journey through these Shan States in Duhaldo — Identification of the Places named — Probable Date 
 of their subjection to Ava. 
 
 The Slians, or Tai, as they call themselves, are the most extensively diffused, and prohably 
 the most numerous, of the Indo-Chinese races. Lapping the Burmese round from north- 
 west by north and east to southwest, they are found from the borders of Munnipoor (if the 
 people of that valley have not been, indeed, themselves modified by Shan blood) to the heart 
 of Yunan, and from the valley of Assam to Bankok and Kamboja ; everywhere Buddhist, 
 everywhere to some considerable extent civilised, and everywhere speaking the same language 
 with little variation ; a circumstance very remarkable amid the infinite variety of tongues 
 that we find among tribes in the closest proximity of location and probable kindred throughout 
 those regions. This substantial identity of language appears to indicate that the Shans had 
 attained at least their present degree of civilisation, and a probability of their having been 
 
 * Much of the information in this Chapter has been derived from the Journals of Dr. Richardson and 
 Capt. Macleod. It is therefore twenty years old, and some circumstances stated as facts then may be 
 so no longer. Meagre abstracts of those Journals were published in the Jour. Asiatic Society Ben. vol. vi., 
 but the complete Journals have never been printed. 
 
292 THE SHAN STATES TKIBUTAKY TO BURMA. 
 
 united in one polity, before their so wide dispersion and segregation* The traditions of the 
 Siamese, as well as of the northern Shans, speak of an ancient and great kingdom held by 
 this race in the north of the present Burmese empire, and of the traditions the name of 
 " Great Tai " applied to the people of that quarter, appears to-^be a slight confirmation.* 
 Some fatal want of coherence has split the race into a great number of unconnected princi- 
 palities, and the kingdom of Siam is now, perhaps, the only independent Shan state in 
 existence. All the others are subject or tributary to Ava, China, Cochin-China, or Siam. 
 
 Westward of the Irawadi all their native sovereignties have been suppressed, except in 
 the cases of the secluded Kabo valley west of the Kyen-dwen, and of the petty chieftaincies 
 of the Khamtis, in the still more secluded recesses of the extreme north. Of these we have 
 already spoken. 
 
 The states of which I am now to give some fragmentary account occupy a tract of 
 country which may be roughly comprehended between the meridians of 97° and 101°, and 
 from the parallel of 24° to that of 20°. 
 
 This tract terminates on the west with the meridian chain which has been described as 
 forming the eastern boundary of Burma Proper. On the east it may be said generally to 
 be bounded by the Mekhong, or Great Cambodia River, though several of the states extend 
 their jurisdiction a short distance beyond that limit. On the north it is bounded by that 
 part of the vice-royalty of Yunan protuberant towards the Irawadi, and comprising the 
 Koshanpri, or nine Shan states, which in former times often changed hands f between the 
 Chinese and Burmese, but has now long been in the undisputed possession of the former. 
 On the south the limit is for a short distance the territory of the Red Karens, and then 
 right on to the Mekhong the Shan principalities tributary to Siam. 
 
 Over all this region the Burmese suzerainete is acknowledged with more or less of prac- 
 
 * This Northern Shan kingdom may have been that of Pong, or Mogoung, of which Capt. Pemberton 
 has given some history. But the Shan traditions communicated to Colonel Hannay assigned the south- 
 west of Yunan as the seat of the empire, and affirmed that the capital, called Kai Khao Mail Long (" the 
 great and splendid city"), was situated on the banks of the Shwu-li river, which joins the Irawadi about 
 the parallel of 24°. — {Notes on Singphos, and on the Shan or Tai Nation, Cal. 1847.) 
 
 t See p. 270 and note there. The name of Koshanpri appears to be applied inaccurately by Buchanan 
 to the existing Shan tributaries of Ava (in Edinburgh Philos. Journal, x. 246), and Ritter has followed 
 him. My authorities for this location of the Koshanpri (also called Kopyidoung) are Burney, in Jour. 
 Asiatic Society Ben. vol. vi. p. 124 ; Hannay's MS. Journal and his Sketch of the Shans (Cal. 1847) ; and 
 Macleod's MS. Journal of Journey to Kiang-Hung. The names of the nine Shan towns are given by 
 Burney as Maingmo, Tsiguen, Hotha, Latha, Mona, Tsanta, Mowun, Kaingma, and Maing-Lyin, or Maing- 
 Lyi ; and by Macleod the same, with trifling differences in spelling. By Hannay they are given some- 
 what differently, as Moong-mau, Hotha, Latha, Santa, Moongwun.Sanla, Moong-sai, Moong-la, andMoong- 
 tyc, or Moongti, of which only the first five appear to be identical with those of Burney's list. Kaingma 
 is the only one of these towns not included in the immediate empire of China. It is, as we shall see 
 below, tributary to both Ava and China. Tsanta (Santa-foo) and Mowun, or Moong-wun (Long-chucn), 
 are in D'Anvillo's map ; and Maing-mo, Hotha, and Latha, are given (on Chinese authority probably) in 
 a map in Klaproth's Essay on the Brahmaputra and Irawadi. 
 
 These little states appear to be governed immediately by their own Tsaubwas, and to be rather tri- 
 butaries of China than absolute subjects. Some notice of this region, partly, as it would appear, from 
 Chinese sources, will be found in an interesting but confused and mystified paper by Gutzlaff, in the 
 Journal of the Royal Geographical Society for 1849, part i. p. 42. 
 
THE SnAN STATES TIUBUTAliY TO BURMA. 293 
 
 tical effect. In the states adjoining Burma Proper it is an active and oppressive reality, 
 whilst it becomes less and less potential as we travel eastward, and on the extreme east and 
 north-east of the tract which we have defined, though paying homage to Ava by periodical 
 tribute, the states are in much closer relation to China. 
 
 The whole of this territory is roughened by a succession of ramifying mountain chains, 
 whose general direction is from north to south, like that of the chief rivers, the Salwen and 
 the Mekhong. In the country between those two rivers are also the sources of the Menam, 
 or river of Siam. 
 
 Of the sources of the Salwen and Mekhong nothing is known with absolute certainty, 
 though they are generally laid down as the continuations of two of the great rivers of Tibet, 
 delineated in the Lamas' maps sent home by the Jesuits. That the Mekhong is one of 
 these, there can be little doubt ; but the inferior amount of water discharged by the Salwen 
 seems scarcely consistent with such a vast length of course as would thus be ascribed to it. 
 Buchanan supposed that the Tibetan river assigned as identical with the Salwen might in 
 reality be the main source of the Irawadi. The balance of argument is against any such 
 remote source of the Irawadi; but it seems to me quite probable that both the long- 
 descended Tibetan rivers really join to form the Lan-tshang Kiang, or Mekhong, and that 
 the Salwen has its independent source not far bej'ond the northern limits of Yunan.* The 
 general character of the Salwen throughout its course seems to be that of a rocky and rapid 
 stream, flowing through a narrow valley, with scarcely any alluvial basins, and few inha- 
 bitants on its immediate banks. It is said to be navigable, however, for small boats up to 
 the ferry leading from Mone to Kiang-Tung, in latitude 20° 40', and even in Yunan, accord- 
 ing to Gutzlaff. The character of the Mekhong seems to be somewhat similar, allowing for 
 a larger body of water. Within the Chinese territory it is narrow enough to be crossed at 
 several places by iron suspension-bridges ;f but at Kiang-Hung, in the month of March, 
 Macleod found it to be about 540 feet wide, with a rocky bed, a depth exceeding fifteen feet 
 (how much more he could not ascertain without exciting suspicion), and an average velocity 
 of three miles an hour. The bed from bank to bank was 1 620 feet, with indication of a 
 flood-rise of fifty or sixty feet. It was said to be navigable for canoes all the way down, 
 but not without encountering rapids, particularly between Iviang-Kheng, and Kiang-Tsen, 
 and again near Wintchian, or Chandapoori. Even in ascending to the latter place from the 
 
 * Mr. Oldham is my very competent authority for the comparatively very small body of water in 
 the Salwen near where it enters Tenasserim. Dr. Richardson, however, calls it 300 yards wide where he 
 crossed it, 200 miles from the mouth, in January 1837. One of the suite of a Burmese ambassador to 
 Pekin, who furnished Buchanan with a good deal of information, described the Salwen as a much less 
 important river than the Mekhong, and the latter as being of a much longer course, running round the 
 sources of the other. (In Ed. Philos. Journal, iii. 35.) The Mekhong is, indeed, crossed by a suspension- 
 bridge on the road to Yunan from Bamo, whilst the Salwen is crossed by boat. (See Itinerary given by 
 Burney in Jour. Asiatic Society Ben. vol. vi. p. 546.) But this is because the rocky channel and violent 
 stream of the Mekhong prevent the use of a ferry. Buchanan's informant crossed the Mekhong by a 
 cradle slung on iron chains, but the embassy of 1833 record their passing by an iron bridge 105 cubits 
 long and seven broad. The cubit may be taken at twenty inches, which would give a span of 175 feet. 
 
 f One is mentioned in the last note ; another on the road from Kaingma to Talee-foo, in Jour. 
 Asiatic Society Ben. vi. 426. 
 
294 THE SHAN STATES TRIBUTARY TO BURMA. 
 
 sea, in 1641, the Dutch Envoy, Gerard Van Wusthof, met with "horrible waterfalls," or 
 rapids, which compelled the party to unload their boats before attempting to pass up.* The 
 Chinese travellers quoted in Duhalde say that it is navigable for large barks from Kiang- 
 Khong and Kiang-Tsen to the sea. Apparently there used to be a good deal of traffic on 
 the Mekhong, in the prosperous days of the Lower Laos; but in 1837 Captain Macleod 
 says, that trade on the river had entirely ceased since the destruction of Wintchian by 
 the Siamese some years before. The violence and rapidity of the current f render the 
 Mekhong dangerous to navigate in the floods. 
 
 The mountains in which this tract abounds are inhabited, as usual, by a number of 
 more or less wild tribes, known under a variety of names. The most notable of these is, 
 perhaps, that of the Lawas, who are scattered over the whole of this territory, and are 
 regarded by the Shans as the uncivilised remnant of the aboriginal inhabitants. Their lan- 
 guage is said, probably on slight grounds, to be quite different from that of the Shans. 
 Notwithstanding the character ascribed to them, they appear to be good cultivators, grow- 
 ing indigo, sugar-cane, and cotton, and much of the supply of the latter article carried away 
 by the Chinese traders from Kiang-Hung, Kiang-Tung, and the adjoining states, is grown 
 by them. They also manufacture iron, and are good smiths, making dims and even match- 
 locks. They are described by Macleod as short, ill-made, and ugly, with flat noses, low 
 foreheads, and protuberant bellies. The name of Lawa seems to be applied by the Chinese 
 to all the chief nations on the south-western frontier of Yunan, including the Burmese, who, 
 according to F. Buchanan, are called Lawa Meen. Among the Shans themselves the 
 people of the states of Wintchian and Lantchian (otherwise called Chandapoori, and Muang- 
 Luang-Phaban), on the Mekhong, only are known as Lau. I do not know from which side 
 ' our geographers got the appellation of Laos, which has been applied to the whole Shan 
 country. From these circumstances, however, it seems not unlikely that the Lawas are a 
 deteriorated type of the progenitors of the Shans as they existed before the race was modi- 
 fied by Buddhist civilisation, as the Kookis are supposed to represent the progenitors of the 
 people of Munnipoor, and the forest-races of the Deccan the communities of Southern 
 Tndia, before they were modified by Hindoo civilisation. The largest, most savage, and 
 most independent bodies of the Lawas are found in the country northward and westward of 
 Muang-Lem. They admit no one into their country, and are said to lie in ambush for 
 travellers, whom they surprise and decapitate, carrying off the heads as offerings and 
 trophies, like the Garos, Kookis, and other savage neighbours of our Sylhet frontier. 
 
 The Kakuis are another race of mountaineers scattered over the Kiang-Hung and 
 Kiang-Tung territory, as well as farther north. A large body of them exist in independ- 
 ence in the mountains north-west of Kiang-Hung, and are notorious caterans. They use 
 the cross-bow witli poisoned arrows, spears, and a few matchlocks. The Kakuas are a 
 kindred tribe, considered to be more civilised than the last, and inhabiting the mountains 
 on both banks of the Mekhonn;. 
 
 * Valentyn, Beschryving Van Oost-Indien, vol. iii. part 2, Tonkin and Cambodia, p. 50. 
 t Relation du Royaume de Lao, in Histoire Nouvelle et Curieuse des Royaumes de Tunquin et de Lao 
 dn P. de, Marini, Paris, 16GC. 
 
THE SHAN STATES TRIBUTARY TO BURMA. 295 
 
 These tribes are probably connected with the Kakoos or Kakhyens of northern Burma, 
 but there is no proof of this beyond the obvious similarity of name. Some Chinese at 
 Kiang-Hung, however, told Macleod that the Kakuis and Kakuas were from the hills near 
 Talee-foo, which strengthens the probability of their being Kakhyens. Another small tribe 
 in the neighbourhood of Kiang-Tung is called Mulsa. Of these we have no particulars, but 
 the name is suggestive of the wild mountaineers of the interior of Southern China, called 
 Myau-tse. 
 
 Lau-Laus are also mentioned by Macleod as dwelling on the east of the Mekhong, and 
 tributary to Kiang-Hung. This name is, doubtless, the same as the Lolos of Duhalde, 
 though the description of the Lolos given by that author* applies undoubtedly to the 
 civilised and Buddhist Shans of Yunan. 
 
 The Li-Lun, another tribe under China to the northward of Kiang-Hung, are said to 
 be the chief growers of the inferior opium, which is brought down to Ava by the Chinese 
 merchants. Besides these, there are in the neighbourhood of the Mekhong, Yem, Kali, 
 Pulai, Kapin, Kaldu, Kadams, Kamu, and Kamet, of whom the names only are known. 
 
 A few Karens are found farther east than we should have expected, to the north-east of 
 Zimme, and not more than fifty or sixty miles from the Cambodia river. And small 
 communities of the Toungthoos are met with sparsely up the Salwen, and in the territories 
 of Nyoung-yuwe and Mone. In the same region are Yeins, Dumoos, and Dunos. Of the 
 Yeins, who are probably the same as the Yems of the Mekhong, and are also said to be 
 found in the northern part of Koshanpri, we know only the name. The Dumoos and Dunos 
 are said to speak a kind of Burmese, and perhaps may be a relic of the original uncivilised 
 Myamma. The Dunos, like the Paloungs, are said to be tea-growers.f 
 
 Towards the Chinese frontier, in the districts of Toung-bain and Thein-ni, are the tea- 
 growing Paloungs, of whom we have spoken in a previous chapter. J The Paloungs (called 
 also Paloo) are said to resemble the Shans, and to be of Shan kindred. It is, however, 
 remarkable, considering how often the name of such a race is merely the word for man in 
 its own or some kindred tongne,§ that Hplon has this meaning in one of the Karen dialects 
 of lower Burma. Mixed with these, and stretching far to the north through Yunan and 
 beyond our present bounds, are the numerous tribes of Kakhyens. 
 
 These various tribes occupy the hills and wilder parts of the region. The alluvial basins 
 are occupied by the Shans, who dam the streams and carry irrigation by numerous cuts 
 and bamboo wheels over the rice-lands. The climate indicated appears to be of a more 
 temperate character than in the same latitude in Ava. Extensive pine- forests are met with 
 in all the hilly parts of the region, even down to our Tenasserim and Martaban frontier, 
 and the pine is often found in near proximity to the teak and saul, which we are accustomed 
 to regard as the types of such a very different climate. On the Mekhong, teak of useful 
 quality is, however, scarcely found so far north as Kiang Hung, in lat. 22°, though some 
 
 * Vol. i. p. 30. (English translatiou in folio.) 
 
 t Malcolm's Travels, ii. p. 240. 
 
 t P. 149. 
 
 § e.g. In the Singpho language ,Singpho=Man ; in the Khyeng, Kldng or Khyaiig (see Major 
 Phayre in Jour. Asiatic Society Ben. 1853, pp. 14, 15) has the same meaning, as well as the Kami, Kutui, 
 and Mru of the other tribes of Aracan Yoma so designated. 
 
296 THE SHAN STATES TKIBCTARY TO BUKMA. 
 
 of the finest teak of the Irawadi valley grows at least two degrees farther north. The 
 areca does not grow at all within our proper limit, at least not eastward of the Salwen, though 
 cultivated with success at Madeya, north of Amarapoora. And elephants are not met with 
 in a wild state north of 21° 20', and at Kiang-Hung, when domesticated, do not thrive, 
 though found in India roaming wild at least as far north as Delira, in lat. 30 i".* Chinese 
 furs are habitually worn in winter by the nobles of Kiang-Tung and Kiang-Hung. Tea is 
 grown abundantly over the tract between the Mekhong and the Salwen, and also west of 
 the latter river above the latitude of Ava. Cotton, too, is produced in considerable quantities 
 by some of the hill tribes, and is purchased largely from them by the Chinese traders, who 
 come down through all these principalities annually. 
 
 Before entering on such fragmentary details regarding these principalities as I have 
 been able to collect, some notice must be taken of the Karen-ni, or Red Karens, as they 
 are called by the Burmans, who have remained independent of both Burmese and Slums. 
 
 The country occupied by these people is that part of the mountain mass separating the 
 Sitang from the Salwen, which lies between the latitude of Toungoo and that of 20° 30'. 
 
 Little is known of these people except from the Journals of Dr. Richardson, who passed 
 through their country more than once. It is generally believed that they are not in any 
 way closely allied to the Karens proper of Pegu and Tenasserim, but that they are rather 
 of Shan race. I have not been able to find any further proof of the latter kindred than 
 their being a gens braccala. Dr. Richardson thought that their language was a dialect of 
 that spoken by the Karen tribes to the south of their country ; and I should think it pro- 
 bable that some ethnographic instinct had induced the Burmese to give them the same 
 name.f The appellation of red Dr. Richardson derives from their complexion, naturally 
 rather fair, and tanned to a ruddy hue ; but the red breeches which he describes them as 
 wearing suggest as likely an origin for the name, the Shan breeches being blue. 
 
 The name which the Karen-ni give themselves is Koya ; by the Shans they are called 
 Niang. They have some myth about their being the descendants of part of a Chinese force 
 which overslept itself, and was left behind on a retreat by the main body. It is curious that 
 the Khyens of the Yoma-doung have almost the same tradition regarding their own origin, 
 substituting Burmese for Chinese army.J 
 
 * Tigers, however, appear to be very numerous over the country, especially on the desolated border- 
 land between the Burmese and Siamese Shans. 
 
 t I can find only one Karen-ni term recorded, so that the materials for determining the kindred of 
 the people are much on the same scale with those for determining the kindred of the Picts, which, 
 according to the illustrious Jonathan Oldbuck, consisted of one word (l'en-val), of which one half was 
 Celtic and the other half Teutonic. In the present instance, however, the one word is in favour of Karen 
 connexion. Dr. Richardson tells us that the Eed Karens call the Salwen Koolo KMo. Now, according 
 to one of the Pwo Karen lists of vocables, Klo is a word for river in that dialect. P.S. — I see Mr. 
 Mason says that from Karen testimony, confirmed by knowledge of a few words, the Karen-ni have 
 many roots common to the Pwo and Sgau dialects. — {Nat. Prod. p. 477.) 
 
 I Are not these traditions, and those others in which we find dispersed and depressed tribes in Burma, 
 like the Toungthoos, the Pwons, and the Kados, pointing to mouldering and jungle-grown traces of ram- 
 parts as the sites of the cities of their fathers, indications of the error of that theory that the savage 
 was "the seed out of which in due time the civilised man was unfolded l" — (See Trench On the Study 
 of Words, 2d edition, p. 14.) 
 
THE SHAN STATES TMBUTAKY TO BUKMA. 297 
 
 The Red Karens are a people of small stature, with spindle shanks and projecting 
 stomachs, rude and filthy in their habits- They are, however, far from absolute savagery, 
 and many Shans at one time settled in their country, finding them as lords preferable to 
 the Burmese. Their only religious observances consist in the propitiation of the malignant 
 spirits who inflict disease. Sacrifices for this purpose are carried to an extravagant extent. 
 They are civilised enough to use a coarse silver bullion for currency with the Burmese 
 weights, and their cultivation is remarkable for its neatness. 
 
 The whole country is mountainous, and in the southern part of their district the 
 mountains rise to a height of about 8000 feet. Their villages are generally perched on 
 rounded knolls, or on the tops of tabular hills. The population is considerable. In one 
 part of their country, between the Salwen and the Mepon, Dr. Richardson found the land 
 cultivated to the tops of the hills, the valleys terraced in the Chinese manner, cross-roads 
 in all directions, and villages so numerous that eight were visible at one time. Their 
 largest village is called Ngwe-doung. It is planted on the top of an extensive terraced 
 table-land on the west side of the Mepon. The inhabitants are, however, chiefly Shan 
 fugitives. 
 
 These Red Karens are the terror of all the adjoining Burman and Burma Shan districts, 
 on which they make their forays, carrying off the inhabitants, and selling them in exchange 
 for buffaloes and oxen into hopeless slavery among the Siamese Shans. They are also the 
 receivers of slaves carried off in the mutual feuds of the numerous small Karen communities 
 along their borders on the side of Toungoo.* The nearest towns pay them blackmail to 
 purchase immunity from their inroads. These used to extend so far that the people of 
 Nyoung-yuwe, twenty miles from their frontier, had to keep watch and ward against them. 
 
 The Shan principalities may be conveniently divided into Cis-Salwen and Trans- 
 Salwen. 
 
 Of the Cis-Salwen states, commencing from the Karen-ni country, which forms their 
 southern limit, the first is Mobye. 
 
 This little state, lying close to the Red Karens, was so harried by them, that nothing 
 remained to the Tsaubwa beyond the walls of his town. At last, as he could get no aid 
 from Ava, he ceased to send tribute to that court, and transferred his allegiance to his 
 cateran neighbours. In 1837 the town was said not to contain more than fifty houses, f 
 
 II. The next state is Mokme, or Moung-Mc, about five days' journey north-east from 
 
 * MS. Report from Mr. O'Riley, Assist. Commissioner at Toungoo. At one place, among the Karen- 
 yaings, or Wild Karens, eastward of the Sitang, there were brought before Mr. O'Riley eight men and 
 boys, three women and thirteen young children, the remains of ten houses that had been forayed by 
 ethers of the same race, in order to meet demands for tribute by the Karen-ni. The men had lost their 
 wives and children, the women their husbands, and all the children their parents. Fifty persons had 
 been carried off. 
 
 f Considerably south of Mobye, but east of the Salwen, was formerly a state very much detached from 
 the others, but tributary to Ava, called Meinlein-gyi, or Yunsalen. It is spoken of by Buchanan, and is, 
 perhaps, the kingdom Jacacalon of Ferdinand Pinto, though he speaks as if it were near the Irawadi. It 
 has long been subject to Zimme, and the capital is represented by a hamlet of ten or twelve houses, 
 though an extensive rampart and ditch still testify to former importance. 
 
 QQ 
 
298 THE SHAN STATES TRIBUTARY TO BUItMA. 
 
 Mobye, and three days from the Karen-ni frontier. This little state has also been much 
 harassed and reduced by the forays of the Red Karens, and all the chief villages pay them 
 blackmail. The town of Mokme contains about 350 houses. The territory is small. 
 
 III. Two days north of Mokme is the chief town of the state of Mone. 
 
 This is the seat of the presidency of the Burmese over the Shan principalities, and the 
 Burmans are rather numerous. Though the limits cannot be laid down with precision, 
 the territory is considerable, extending to some distance across the Salwen, and the town, 
 which stands about 2000 feet above the sea, is the largest of all the little Shan capitals, and 
 may, perhaps, contain 8000 souls. It is built along the foot of the hills bounding the fertile 
 valley of the Nam-tween, a tributary of the Me-Pon. 
 
 IV. About five-and-thirty miles north-west of Mone (though the distance by road is 
 much longer) is Nyoung-yuwe, called also Nyoung-shwe. This is the most westerly of the 
 states, and was formerly one of the largest and most important, being one of the four which 
 embraced the whole of Kamboza-Taing,* a term including the whole of the Cis-Salwenic 
 Shans up to Bamo, if not to Mogoung. But by Karen forays, Burman oppression, and 
 domestic contests, the Tsaubwa's dominion is sadly reduced, and probably now does not 
 contain a thousand houses altogether. 
 
 In the town there are not more than 150 houses. It lies in a rather extensive alluvial 
 basin, at a height of about 2500 feet above the sea. The whole of this appears to have 
 been a lake-bed, like the somewhat similar valley of Munnipoor ; and the lake still exists in 
 the middle of the valley, extending about fourteen miles in length by about three-and-a- 
 half in width at the broadest part. It is shallow, not in the dry season exceeding seven- 
 and-a-half feet in depth anywhere, and it appears to be still contracting. 
 
 Though the number of houses in the Tsaubwa's territory is so small, there is in the 
 valley a considerable population besides, which is directly tributary to the court of Ava, and 
 the level is rather extensively cultivated with rice, sugar-cane, maize, &c. 
 
 Among the inhabitants of the valley is a colony of Tavoyers, who retain a dialect 
 resembling that of Tavoy. They are in a low state of civilisation, and have no knowledge 
 of the emigration of their forefathers. But the traditions of the Shans, or Burmese, say 
 that they were brought here by the ancient Burman monarch, Narapati-tseethoo,f who 
 
 * I do not know whether this name has any relation to the Kamboja of Geographers, or whether it 
 is a mere accidental consonance. It does not, however, sound like Burmese, and is, doubtless, one of the 
 Pali names which attach to all the principal divisions of Burma and the Shan country. Gutzlaff says 
 (Jour. R. Geocf. Society, xix. p. 88), that Kambodia, or Kamboja, as applied to the delta of the Mckhong, 
 is a name taken from the [Buddhist] sacred books. The Pali names of places in Indo-China are 
 often transfers of the names of places in the sacred land of India. So in Burma we have Maithila and 
 Kosambhi, in Siam we have Ayodhya, and in Kambodia Inthapat (Indraput). Kamboja was the Sans- 
 crit name of a people on the north-west of India, who, Lassen {bid. AUerthum, p. 598) says, were a 
 tribe of degenerate Kshatriyas. 
 
 \ " According to Tavoy historians Narapadi-Scethoo came to Tavoy more, as is represented, as an 
 apostle of religion than as a conqueror, and founded the first city that was ever built in that province, 
 in A.n. 1208. He built the Pagoda on Tavoy point, which is the oldest of which there are any records, 
 and lie was probably the first to place Buddhism on a permanent basis in that region." — (Mason's Nut. 
 Prod, of Banna, p. 403.) Many traditions of the valley of Nyoung-yuwe arc connected with the same 
 
THE SHAN STATES TRIBUTARY TO BURMA. 299 
 
 reigned, according to Crawford's table, between 1157 and 1190, but according to other 
 authorities in the following century. A similar tradition attaches to a town called Thatung, 
 five days south-east of Nyoung-yuwe, on the border of the Karen-nis, to whom it pays 
 tribute. The inhabitants of this place are said to have been brought from the ancient city 
 of Thatung, in the present province of Martaban, by the great King Nauratha-men-zau, the 
 founder of the Shwe-zeegoong Pagoda at Pagan. 
 
 The lake of Nyoung-yuwe is that which occupies in the maps derived from F. Buchanan 
 such a curious position, radiating rivers to all points of the compass. The real outlet of the 
 lake is by the river of Mobye, which passes the little Shan city of that name, and discharges 
 itself into the Mepon, and so into the Salwen. It is reported to flow underground for a 
 mile or two before joining the Mepon. 
 
 The people also believe that there is a subterranean escape from the lake itsglf, at a spot 
 where a bubbling extrication of gas takes place. Some story connected with this belief may 
 have led to the geographical error just alluded to. 
 
 The principal feeder of the lake is the Borathat, a stream flowing down from the moun- 
 tains immediately east of Ava. The surface of this lake presents the singular spectacle of 
 a multitude of floating islands. They are composed of the interlaced roots of a coarse grass 
 or reed, loaded with a little soil. The roots of the grass shoot down to the bottom of the 
 lake in dry weather, but in the rains many of these entangled masses are buoyed up and 
 separated from the ground, so as to be quite afloat. The inhabitants often occupy them as 
 fishing stations, or even erect their cottages on them, anchoring the islands to the bottom by 
 long bamboos. They undulate at every step, and a man's house sometimes, during a squall, 
 changes front to every point of the compass. Some of these islands are so large as to afford 
 space for three or four cottages.* 
 
 There is scarcely any wood in the valley of Nyoung-yuwe, and the people are obliged to 
 purchase their boats from the Red Karens. 
 
 The nominal contingent of Nyoung-yuwe is 1565 men, but 500 is the utmost that they 
 can raise, and these they cannot keep in the field for any length of time. 
 
 From the lake of Nyoung-yuwe to the pass of Nat-teik, descending upon the plains of 
 Ava, extends the hilly district called Myelat, which is under no Tsaubwa, but pays revenue 
 direct to the King, and hence is known as Ngwigoon, or " silver-taxed." 
 
 V. Bordering Mone towards the north, and Nyoung-yuwe towards the north-east, is the 
 state of Legya, formerly mustering under the banner of Nyoung-yuwe, but within the 
 present century raised to the position of a Tsaubwaship. It is one of the most prosperous 
 of the states. The chief town is said to contain as many houses as Mone, that is to say, 
 about 1600. 
 
 monarch. He is said to have defeated an immense Chinese army which attacked the old city of 
 Kosambhi, formerly the capital of the valley, and the extensive traces of which exist two or three miles 
 north of the present town. Under the waters of the lake are also seen certain rows of wooden posts, 
 which the Shans believe to have been the pillars of his Palace. 
 
 * " A very fat old woman on one island, where we landed for breakfast, laughed heartily at some 
 apprehension displayed by one of my people, who was about half her weight, that he might go through." 
 — (Richardson's MS. Journal) 
 
300 TIIE SHAN STATES TRIBUTARY TO BURMA. 
 
 The two Shan ladies mentioned in the histories of the first Burmese war* as being 
 killed in action at the Naweng river, near Prome, in November 1825, were two wives of 
 the then Tsaubwa of Legya, who, from some superstition, were brought into the field 
 dressed in male attire. 
 
 Very lately the arbitrary conduct of the chief Burman official at Mono caused an 
 armed rising among the people of Legya ; but the good sense of the King very speedily put 
 a stop to it without armed interference. 
 
 VI. North of Legya, and according to Richardson's sketch on the banks of the Myit- 
 nge, is Tlieebo. It appears to be a very small state. The most direct road from Amara- 
 poora to China lies through Theebo and Thein-ni. 
 
 Thoung-ze is a Shan district betweeen Theebo and Ava, and I believe that the King has 
 here re-established a Tsaubwa. 
 
 Momeit, a very considerable territory to the eastward of the Irawadi above the capital, 
 was in former reigns under a Burman governor. I do not know whether the Tsaubwa 
 here also has been restored. ' The town stands on a small river (the Nam-meit) running 
 into the Shwe-li. It is the district within which lie the celebrated Ruby-mines of Mogouk 
 and Kyat-pen. East of Momeit is the district of Toung-baing, but I do not find that there 
 either is any Tsaubwa recognised. 
 
 VII. The last of the Tsaubwaships on this side of the Salwen is Thein-ni, called by 
 the Shans Tsen-vi. The town is a considerable one, containing five or six hundred 
 houses. It lies twelve marches east of Ava, on the most direct road to Yunan, and thirteen 
 north or north-by-east from Mone, but its position cannot be laid down with any exactness. 
 Its territory extends a short distance across the Salwen, to a river called Nam-boung.f 
 
 Thein-ni has the most extensive territory of all the principalities, though not the 
 most populous. It furnishes, however, a contingent equal to those of all the other Cis-Sal- 
 wenic states. The Tsaubwa, according to Richardson, used to pay some homage to China. 
 The state is at present under a Burman governor, but I understand that it is the King's 
 intention to restore the Tsaubwa here also. 
 
 All the preceding states, with the exception of Mobye, pay tribute twice a-year to Ava. 
 
 We now cross the Salwen and begin from the north. 
 
 VIII. Beyond the Salwen, the most northerly is the state (or two confederated states) 
 of Kaingma-Maingmaing. Kaingma, as we have seen above, is one of the nine Shan cities, 
 or Koshanpri. This state, which has a considerable territory, pays tribute to Ava, but 
 not annually. It is in much closer relation to China, probably much on the same footing 
 as Kiang-Hung, and it is, indeed, like that state, embodied in the Jesuit's map of Yunan. 
 Gutzlaff speaks of its well-irrigated soil, and dense agricultural population. J 
 
 Within the territory of this state, I believe, should be placed the great silver-mine 
 (Bau-dwen-gyi), the position of which has been hitherto laid down in the maps as on the 
 west of the Salwen near Toun£baing. 
 
 * Two Tears in Ava, p. 325. Snodgrass, p. 235. 
 t See Itinerary, Jour. Asiatic Society Ben. vi. 425. 
 % Jour, of Royal Oeograph. Society, xix. 43. 
 
THE SHAN STATES TRIBUTARY TO BURMA. 301 
 
 The accurate Chinese travellers, whose account is given in Duhalde, tell us that, be- 
 sides silver, tin, copper, iron and rock-salt are worked in the territories of Maingmaing 
 (Mohang-Meng), and also that the musk animal is found there ; which seems to imply the 
 existence of very high mountains. The mountains covered with perpetual snow of which 
 Gutzlaff speaks, would appear, indeed, to be in this territory.* 
 
 Between Thein-ni and Kaingma there is a small state called Muang-Ting, or Maing- 
 Tein, along the banks of the Nam-ting. I do not know whether it is considered tributary 
 to Burma.f 
 
 IX. South of the last is Maing-leng-gyi (Muang-Lem of the Shans). Of this, as of 
 Kaingma, scarcely anything is known. A considerable part of the territory northward and 
 westward of Muang-Lem is occupied, as we have before noticed, by a savage race of 
 Lawas, who prevent all passage through their country. Gold is said to be abundant in 
 their hills, and they exchange a little with the Shans for salt, areca, cattle, and silver. 
 They are said to be very numerous, and to cluster in large villages of 400 or 500 houses 
 under separate chiefs. These communities are often at war 'among themselves. 
 
 The Ava contingent of Main-leng-gyi is nominally 3000 men. It pays tribute to Ava 
 annually, and triennially to China. 
 
 X. South-east of Maing-leng-gyi, and extending on both sides of the Mekhong, is the 
 state of Kiang-Hung, called by the Burmese Kaing-yung-gyi, one of the most important 
 of the Tsaubwaships. It appears to be the Tarout-Shan (Chinese Shan) country of Dr./ 
 Buchanan. J 
 
 This state sends tribute to Ava once in three years, but it is much more immediately 
 under Chinese influence, and the Chinese dress, customs, and language prevail more or 
 less among the nobles. It is called by the Chinese Cheli, and under the name of Tcheli- 
 chuen-fou-se, it will be found in D'Anville's map of Yunan. In fact, the Chinese exercise 
 an immediate interference, maintaining an establishment of clerks and fiscal officers, and 
 collect a revenue assessed on the amount of seed sown, besides 65 \ viss of silver from the 
 Tsaubwa's government, and a large quantity of tea, said by Captain Macleod to amount to 
 560 mule-loads. Of this, twenty-five mule-loads, made from the tender shoots, were 
 universally said to be destined for the emperor himself. This importation of tea into 
 China is an example of "coals to Newcastle" that has been already referred to. 
 
 There are twelve petty Tsaubwas in confederacy under the Kiang-Hung chief, whose 
 own proper title is Tsen-wi-fua. 
 
 Four of these feudatories lie to the west, and eight to the east of the Mekhong, and the 
 most easterly border on territories belonging to Tonquin. 
 
 On the west of the Mekhong they are separated from China, or perhaps rather from 
 Kaingma, by savage tribes of Kakuis. But on the east of that river the state of Kiang- 
 Hung comes into immediate contact with what we consider to be China proper at the town 
 of Muang-La, which is parted only by a small river from the Chinese town of Esmok. 
 
 * Journal of Royal Geograph. Society, xix. 43. 
 
 f Compare Itinerary before quoted ; Jour. Oeog. Soc. U. S., and D'Anville's Map of Yunan. 
 
302 THE SHAN STATES TRIBUTARY TO BURMA. 
 
 The latter is under the government of Shuenli, a subdivision of the great province of 
 Yunan; Shuenli is, I believe (from the comparison of Burman routes in China given by- 
 Colonel Burney in the Journal of the Asiatic Society of Bengal, vi. p. 426, &c), the 
 city called in D'Anville Chunningfou. 
 
 By this route the caravans of Chinese traders, chiefly Mahomedans,* come down to 
 traffic at Kiang-Hung, Kiang-Tung, and the principalities under Siam. It was chiefly 
 with the view of inducing these caravans to extend their annual journeys to Maulmain 
 that Captain Macleod undertook his remarkable journey to these remote states in 1837; 
 but the jealousies and obstructions among the intervening Siamese Shans prevented the 
 accomplishment of his object. 
 
 The city of Kiang-Hung is situated to the westward of the Mekhong, on the side of 
 a low range of hills, near where a stream called the Me-IIa joins that river. It is not 
 walled, nor is there any fort. The Palace is a prominent building on high ground at the 
 northern end. It is handsome and substantial, adorned with carving and gilding in the 
 Chinese style, and roofed with highly-glazed tiles. Much stone is also used in the 
 substructure. 
 
 The town does not contain more than 400 houses, many of which are planted on 
 little terraces cut in the hill side. There are a few monasteries and small pagodas, but 
 besides the Tsaubwa's Palace there is not a good house in the place, nor a single one 
 of timber. 
 
 The tribute to Ava is more an honorary payment than a substantial one, like that to 
 China. It consists of a small gold cup, a gold and silver flower, with pieces of silk and 
 tinsel, a pair of shoes, salt, tea, and gilt candles, from each of the twelve feudatory 
 Tsaubwas. The Tsenwifua's homage to Ava is of a similar character, with the addition 
 of two ponies. Each petty Tsaubwa offers his own lord annually the same presents that 
 he sends triennially to Ava. 
 
 The Ava contingent from Kiang-Hung is 5000 men. The Chinese claim no military 
 service in this way from any of the Shan states under their influence. 
 
 XI. Another important principality is Kiang-Tung, called by the Burmese Kaing- 
 Toung-gyi. 
 
 The city giving name to this state is about midway between the Salwen and the 
 Mekhong, but the territory itself extends nearly from the one river to the other, embracing 
 Muang-Niong, Kiang-Tsen or Kiang-Then, and several other states once independent. 
 Kiang-Tsen, on the banks of the Mekhong, was once a place of considerable importance. 
 
 The town of Kiang-Tung stands on long undulating hills. The ground is of a similar 
 character, intermingled with swampy hollows on the east, south, and west. North-east, 
 north, and north-west, level cultivation extends for several miles, beyond which high 
 mountains rise suddenly. 
 
 These Chinese generally claimed both Richardson and Macleod as co-religionists. They were 
 always found very civil. They were often accompanied by dogs of large size, the same breed, doubtless, 
 though not quite so big, as Marco Polo's dogs of Tcbeth, which he says were the size of donkeys. 
 
T1IE SHAN STATES TRIBUTARY TO BURMA. 303 
 
 Kiang-Tung does not contain more than 600 or 700 houses, and those of a mean 
 character and widely scattered. 
 
 It is surrounded by an extensive and irregular wall of brick and mud, about fifteen 
 feet high, fenced on the outside either by swamps or by an artificial ditch. The ditch, 
 where the wall passes over high ground, is cut down to the level of the swamp, and is in 
 some places seventy feet deep. 
 
 The Palace is in the centre of the town, a building of very shabby exterior, but 
 internally handsome and richly adorned, with a throne and other royal insignia on the 
 Ava model. 
 
 The people of Kiang-Tung are called by the Burmese Gong; and the country is often 
 called Gong thoungze nhit Myo, " the thirty-two cities of the Gong." 
 
 No regular taxes are levied by the Tsaubwa on his own account. His revenue is 
 derived from the crops of his own domains, from trade, and from presents offered annually 
 by his Myotsas, or feudatories, and by the people generally. A part of the fines also in 
 criminal cases goes to the Tsaubwa. In all suits for money twenty per cent on the value 
 in dispute is the perquisite of the adjudicating officer. 
 
 The whole force of the Kiang-Tung territory, including the hill tribes, is said to 
 amount to 30,000 men. The contingent for Ava is 5000. When the Shan contingents 
 were called out in the first war with us, no troops from Kiang-Tung were employed ; on 
 the plea that they were required to watch the Siamese. It appears from Sir J. Bowring's 
 book (ii. 364) that the Siamese made an unsuccessful attack on Kiang-Tung as late 
 as 1854. 
 
 In the beginning of this century the then reigning Tsaubwa, with many of his people, 
 in disgust with Burmese oppression, went over to Zimme and put themselves under the 
 jurisdiction of the Siamese. The promises of the latter were all broken, but the emigra- 
 tion added considerably to the population of the Zimme principalities. 
 
 XII. The last of the Tsaubwaships is Kiang-Khen (Burm. Kaing-Khyaing), the most 
 easterly state having any relations with the court of Ava. It is a small state, I believe, 
 but I find no particulars regarding it, except the amount of its contingent, which is 1000 
 men. Some twenty or thirty years ago the Tsaubwa wished to place himself under 
 Chinese protection, but the Chinese Government declined the offer. The town of Kiang- 
 Khen stands on the right bank of the Cambodia river, according to Macleod, in about lat. 
 18° 54'; but, for reasons assigned in the preceding Chapter, I believe it ought to be higher. 
 
 The Tsaubwas of all these principalities, even where most absolutely under Ava, retain 
 all the forms and appurtenances of royalty. They assume to themselves a multiplicity of 
 wives, like their lord at Ava; like him, they espouse their half-sisters, to preserve the purity 
 of the blood- royal, and doubtless would justify the practice by a claim of descent from the 
 house of Sakya; they have their Ein-she-Men, or Caasar, their Atwen-woons, Thandaut- 
 sens, Nakhangyis, and other officials of the court. Their Palaces have the reiterated roof, 
 the pyathat, or storied spire, and sacred htee. They have also the Yajapalen, or kingly 
 throne, and the white umbrella, with the rest of the five ensigns of royalty. But these 
 
304 THE SHAN STATES TKIBUTAKr TO BURMA. 
 
 latter they possess only as the Vicar of Wakefield's daughters possessed their crown-pieces ; 
 they are theirs, but they must not be made use of. 
 
 The existence to this day of these numerous Reguli, with all the paraphernalia of 
 royalty, explains, and to a certain extent justifies, the statements of the old travellers, 
 that Tshenbyo-Myayen, the great King of Pegu, had six-and -twenty crowned kings for 
 his vassals.* 
 
 All these states are under the real or nominal supervision of the Bo-mhoo-mentha, 
 whose presidency or seat of administration is at Mone. He generally, however, resides at 
 Ava, only visiting Mone occasionally. His duties are conducted in his absence by a deputy, 
 called the Tsitke-daugyi (" Great Royal Sheriff "), who is obliged to leave his family at 
 court as pledges for his loyalty. The Tsitke-daugyi has various subordinate officials under 
 him at Mone, and either one or two inferior Tsit-kes are posted at the court of each 
 Tsaubwa, in the capacity of Residents, as we should call them in India. 
 
 The amount of authority exercised over these states by the Burmans varies nearly with 
 their distance from Ava. Over those nearly in contact with the King's immediate terri- 
 tories, it is (or used to be) exercised with oppressive rigour. Over Kiang-Hung and 
 Kaingma it cannot be more than the peaceful policy of China permits. The tribute from 
 these remoter states is, as we have seen in the case of Kiang-Hung, little more than an 
 honorary token of fealty. Similar presents are made by all the other princes at the Kodau 
 or Beg-Pardon festivals, with more or less frequency according to the custom established 
 in each case; those near the Barman border offering them twice a-year, viz. at the new 
 year and at the end of the Wa, or Buddhist Lent. But those nearer states are also subject 
 to arbitrary exactions of unlimited amount, and are saddled with a number of hungry 
 Burmans, who make such spoil of the natives as they can. 
 
 This, at least, was the state of things during the preceding reigns. But it is understood 
 that the present King has done much to conciliate the Slians, both princes and people, and 
 that the serious insurrections which were formerly chronic in this region have ceased since 
 his assumption of the throne. 
 
 The whole contingent of the Shan states was stated to Richardson by the Tsaubwa of 
 Mone to be 91,147 ; and the former supposed that the prince has used a common Burman 
 hyperbole in multiplying by ten. The aggregate of the nominal contingents must, however, 
 be more than 9000 men. These are, as we have seen, for Nyoung-yuwe 1565, for Muang- 
 Lem 3000, Kiang-Hung and Kiang-Tung 5000 each, Kiang-Kheng 1000, and allowing 
 5000 for Thein-ni, Mone, and the other Cis-Salwenic states, we should have a total of 
 upwards of 20,000. The Shan contingents are never called out except in very critical 
 circumstances. They were summoned in the second campaign of the first Burmese war, 
 and the force then furnished amounted probably to 8000 or 9000 men. 
 
 All the travellers whose journals I have consulted speak in unconscious unison of the 
 
 * Thus, Caesar Frederick : " There is not a king on earth that hath more power or strength than this 
 King of Pegue, because he hath twenty and six crowned kings at his command." — Purchas, ii. p. 1715. 
 
y 
 
 THE SHAN STATES TRIBUTARY TO BURMA. 305 
 
 bitter feeling with which the Burmese are regarded by all the alien tribes which are in 
 any way subject to their authority. And they speak with a like unanimity of the high 
 character which was ascribed to the Chinese for justice, moderation, and good faith. 
 
 The domestic administration of the Tsaubwas themselves appears to be generally of a 
 milder and more paternal character than that of Ava. The princes and nobles show much 
 more of blood and refinement, as distinguished from the commonalty, than it is usual to 
 see in Burma, where there is little distinction of this kind to be observed. The blind 
 Tsaubwa of Kiang-Tung is described by Macleod as a very noble gentleman.* 
 
 The Tsaubwaship is hereditary in the royal family of each principality, but the in- 
 dividual successor to the throne is appointed from Ava. He is generally designated before- 
 hand as Ein-she Men, a dignity conveying considerable powers to the prince as a sort of 
 Caesar in the state. In the principalities of Kaingma, Muang-Lem, and Kiang-Hung, there 
 is some joint arrangement between Ava and China, the successor being named by one 
 government and confirmed by the other. Sometimes, however, the two governments have 
 granted their nomination to different individuals, and wars of succession have ensued. 
 Indeed such feuds and petty wars seem to have been very common among all these little 
 states, and have doubtless tended greatly to throw them under the power of their more 
 united neighbours. 
 
 As in all the Indo-Chinese countries, there seem to be traces over these states of greater 
 wealth and population than now exists. Deserted cities are frequently spoken of; and all 
 the apparatus of royalty about the faded courts of the princes seems to suggest a by-gone 
 period of greater opulence and power than the present. 
 
 The great cities with which geographers have besprinkled this terra incognita are now, 
 we see, nothing more than considerable villages of bamboo huts. Yet within this region, 
 if anywhere beneath the moon, must have been the great city of Timplan, the capital of the 
 magnificent Kalaminham, of which Mendez Pinto gives such an extravagant account 
 
 South of the states of which we last spoke are other principalities of like calibre, but 
 owning their allegiance to Siam instead of Ava. 
 
 The chief of these is Zimme (Kiang-Maif), with its confederate states of Lapung or 
 Labong, and Lagong, all situated on the feeders of the Menam or river of Bankok. These, 
 with several of the adjoining districts, once formed a considerable state, extending from the 
 Salwen to the Mekhong, which is often mentioned by the earlier European travellers as 
 the kingdom of Jangomai, Chacomas, Jamahey, &c. It contained fifty-seven walled towns, 
 the ruins of many of which can still be traced. The population of the states named was 
 considered by Macleod in 1837 to be highly estimated at 90,000. They were conquered 
 by the great Peguan sovereign, Tshenbyomyayen, and after the fall of Pegu, in the 
 
 * Some of the customs of these Shan Princes seem to have a strong clash of primitive simplicity. In 
 the Zimme states, at least, all the chiefs, from the Tsaubwas downwards, at harvest-time remove with 
 their families and followers into the fields, and reside there in temporary sheds, superintending and 
 assisting in collecting and threshing the crop. So in primitive times, Boaz, " a mighty man of wealth," 
 came to superintend his reapers, and slept by the heap of corn on the threshing-floor. 
 
 t The Xieng-Mai of Sir J. Bo wring. 
 
 R R 
 
306 THE SHAN STATES TBIBUTARY TO BURMA. 
 
 beginning of the seventeenth century, passed under the Burmese. From the latter they 
 revolted in the latter part of the last century, and put themselves under Siam, to which 
 they remain tributary. The greater part of their tribute is paid in teak-timber. 
 
 The town of Zimme contains from 700 to 1000 houses, with an inner and outer fort* 
 The inner fort is a square of 2050 paces, surrounded by a wall twenty-two feet high, with 
 bastions and a broad ditch. Pagodas, f worship-houses, and monasteries occupy the greater 
 parts of both the enclosures, and artificial water-courses intersect the town in all directions. 
 The priests are here very numerous, and bear a much less respectable character than in 
 Burma. A number of fine cattle are bred in this country, and the chief supply of Mauhnain 
 used to be (perhaps is still) drawn thence. There is little or no other trade in the place, 
 and the goods brought by the cattle-merchants scarcely used to fetch the price they cost at 
 Maulmain. Through all these southern Shan states the elephant is used with a frequency 
 and familiarity unknown in any other region of the East. The little state of Zimme alone 
 is said to possess 1000 elephants in a state of domestication. They are habitually used in 
 all the work of daily life, and may commonly be seen grazing in the fields along with 
 horned cattle. 
 
 Muang Nan and Muang Phe are two other small states in similar confederacy with 
 one another, between Zimme and the Mekhong. They formed part of the old realm of 
 Kiang-Mai. 
 
 Further east, on both sides of the Mekhong, is the principality of Muang-Luang-Phaban, 
 or Lantchian. j It appears now to be the largest of the southern Shan states. The chief 
 town is described as standing on the east bank of the Mekhong, surrounded by a wall, with 
 a fortified hill in the centre. East of the town are high and impassable mountains. The 
 position of Lantchian is probably in about 17° 45' to 18° of latitude, and 103° 45' of 
 longitude. 
 
 The state of Lantchian, though subject to Siam, pays a triennial tribute to Cochin- 
 
 * Sir John Bowring says the population is called 50,000. He does not seem to have been aware of 
 the visits of Richardson and Macleod to this place. 
 
 f In the middle of Zimme is a pagoda on the top of an earthen mound, of which a curious story is 
 told. A powerful Chinese army besieged the town. The Zimmuers were unable to cope with them in 
 war, but proposed that each party should build a pagoda, the htee of which should be distinctly seen by 
 the enemy, and that the party whose pagoda was first finished should be considered the victors. The 
 Zimme people, masked by thick groves, heaped up a mound of earth and put a little brickwork at the 
 top to support the htee, which was speedily erected. The Chinese, who had worked honestly, acknow- 
 ledged themselves beaten and departed, leaving their pagoda, the very bricks whereof are alive this day, 
 like those of Jack Cade's father's chimney, to testify thereof. 
 
 The story recalls the explanation I once heard given by a Bengalee villager of certain scratches on the 
 trunk of a tree near a notorious patch of tiger-jungle. "Sir," he said, " when two tigers quarrel about 
 the occupation of this piece of jungle, they measure themselves against this tree, and the one who can 
 scratch it highest is the conqueror ; the other goes off;" qucerit aliud hospitium. 
 
 X Lantchian signifies, " a million of elephants." It is the Lenshen of the Burmese and the Langei- 
 annos of Mr. Fitch (see Chap, viii.) Langione (Lantchian) is described by the Pere Marini as the capital 
 of the great kingdom of Lao, of which he published a description. The book appears to be compiled 
 from the relation of missionaries who were resident in that kingdom at the beginning of the seventeenth 
 century, but it is exceedingly vague and uninforming, and contains not a single proper name from which 
 to ascertain what provinces were supposed to be included under the name. 
 
THE SHAN STATES TEIBUTAIiY TO BURMA. 307 
 
 China, and every eight years sends a couple of elephants to China, as a mark of sub- 
 mission.* 
 
 Farther down the Mekhong is Chandapoori, called by the Shans Moung-tchiang, or 
 Wintchian. The city stands on both banks of the Mekhong, the name of Chandapoori 
 properly belonging to that part on the east side of the river. This state was also tributary 
 both to Siam and to Cochin-China. About 1828 the Tsaubwa of Wintchian was inclined 
 to throw off his allegiance to both countries, and proposed to the Zimme states to enter 
 into a confederacy. The Siamese attacked him with a large force, and utterly destroyed 
 the town, treating the inhabitants with horrid cruelty, and removing most of the inha- 
 bitants, whom they located in the thinly-populated tracts on the western branch of the 
 Me-Nam.f 
 
 This name of Wintchian is identified with Chandapoori by both Macleod and Richardson. 
 Its identification, and the few particulars regarding it which I have derived from these 
 travellers, are interesting, because they fix the place visited by the Dutch Envoys from 
 Camboja in the seventeenth century, whose narrative is given in Valentyn's large history 
 of the Dutch East Indies. They call the city to which they were deputed Winkjan, a name 
 which appears to have puzzled Ritter, who supposes it to be intended for Kiang-Kheng.J 
 
 All the so-called cities of the Shan country, like the chief cities and provinces of Burma, 
 have a classical or sacred name in Pali, besides the vernacular names by which they are 
 known to the Shans and Burmese. Chandapoori is a case in point. Thus also Mone is 
 called classically Konandi, Muang-Lem is Beik-karata, Kiang-Tung Khemarata, Kiang- 
 Hung Zodinagara, Kiang-Klieng Thakalarata, Zimme Nantapoori, Labong Harijungra.§ 
 
 In the first volume of Duhalde's China || there is a curious account of the travels of 
 certain Chinese from Siam to China, passing through the trans-Salwenic Shan states of 
 which we have been speaking. By the light of Macleod's information this becomes much 
 more intelligible than it was before. The chief cities on the way, they say, were Kyang- 
 hay ; seven days farther Kyang Seng ; seven days more to Mohang Kemarat ; eight days 
 to Mohang Leng, which they call the capital city of Laos; seven days more to Mohang Le; 
 
 * Siam itself, according to Bowring, pays triennial homage to China. 
 
 ■f " The Tsaubwa was kept, during the short time he survived, in an iron cage ; with different instru- 
 ments of torture alongside of him, and obliged to proclaim that the King of Siam was merciful, and his 
 punishment deserved. Being an old man, his brutal enemies were not long gratified by the sight of his 
 sufferings." — (Richardson's Journal of a Mission to Siam, in Jour. Asiatic Society Ben. ix. 249.) 
 
 J Erdkunde, iv. p. 1204 (1834). As I can find no notice of this remarkable expedition in any 
 English book, it seems worth while to give an abstract of the narrative, such as it is. (Sec Note K in 
 Appendix.) 
 
 § By the help of Prof. Wilson and another learned friend 
 
 Chandapoori = Chandrapura, Selenopolis. 
 Beik-karata = Bhikshurdshtra, The Realm of Saints (as it were). 
 Khemarata = Kshemar&shtra, Regio Felix. 
 Zodinagara = Jyotinagara, City of Light ? or Ayodhya, Oude. 
 
 Thakalarata = Sdkalardshtra, Pantopolis 1 
 Nantapoori as Anantapoori, The City of the Infinite. 
 || English folio translation, p. CI. 
 
308 THE SIIAN STATES TRIBUTARY TO BUEMA. 
 
 eleven days to Mohang-Meng, the chief city of another principality or province, and so on 
 to Mohang Vinan, which belonged to China. 
 
 The ruins of the fort of Kiang-Hai, with the remains of Pagodas and arched gateways, 
 were seen by Macleod on his way from Zimme to Kiang-Tung. It is said to have been the 
 capital of the state before the foundation of Zimme. Kiang Seng or Kiang Tsen, formerly 
 an independent city, but now subject to Kiang-Tung, stands on the right bank of the 
 Mekhong. It is laid down by Macleod, from information, about fifty miles to the north-east 
 of Kiang-Hai, which is probably too little, as he, leaving Kiang-Tsen far to the right, was 
 eighteen days from Kiang-Hai to Kiang-Tung, whilst the Chinese were seven days from 
 K. Hai to K. Tsen, and the same time from K. Tsen to K. Tung. Mohang Kemarat is Kiang- 
 Tung under its classical name. Macleod's information made JVfuang-Lem (the Mohang- 
 Leng of the Chinese travellers) ten days from Kiang-Tung, which would maintain the 
 previous proportion. Muang-Le is not known, but Mohang-Meng is doubtless the Maing- 
 maing of the Burmese, one of the cities of the state called by them Kaingma-Maingmaing. 
 
 Muang-Lem is spoken of by these travellers as in their time the capital of the Lahos. 
 The wild Lavvas, we know, are numerous within this territory ; but the only civilised states 
 to which the name of Laiis now seems to be applied by the Shans are those of Lantchian 
 and Wintchian. The travellers also speak of mines of gold, silver, copper, and red sulphur, 
 five days north of Muang-Lem, especially of a silver-mine worked by Chinese. This is, 
 perhaps, the Bau-dwen so much spoken of in Burma, though that I believe to be now within 
 the territory of Kaingma. There are, however, it would appear, several silver-mines in 
 this region. It is also mentioned in the Chinese narrative, that Muang-Lem, or Laos, was 
 then tributary to Pamahang, or Hawa (Ava), and sent an ambassador annually to that 
 court. They also speak of the tribute of gold and silver flowers then, as now, sent from 
 Khemarat, or Kiang-Tung. 
 
 Moang Vinan, or Mohang Chay, of which the travellers speak as the termination of 
 their route, is undoubtedly Yunan. Indeed, Captain Macleod, without any reference to 
 this narrative, tells us that the city of Yunan is also called Vinnan by the Chinese, and that 
 its Shan name is Muang Tse Luang (meaning, I believe, Great Muang-Tse). 
 
 We see, then, that these provinces bore the same relation as at present to Ava, at the 
 time when these travellers wrote. What that time was is not stated, but it must have been, 
 at latest, the very beginning of the last century, and may probably have been a good deal 
 earlier. Indeed, in the inscription dated 1650, of which an extract is given in Appendix B, 
 Kiang-Hung and Kiang-Tung are expressly mentioned as a part of the empire of Ava. 
 They were probably subjected, along with the states of Kiang Mai, or Zimmd, by the King 
 Nyoung-Men-Tara, the restorer of the Ava monarchy at the beginning of the seventeenth 
 century, or by his immediate successors. 
 
APPENDIX. 
 
 Appendix A. 
 
 NOTES ON THE GEOLOGICAL FEATURES OF THE BANKS OF THE IRAWADI, 
 AND OF THE COUNTRY NORTH OF AMARAPOORA. 
 
 [By T. Oldham, Esq. Superintendent of the Geological Survey of India. - ] 
 
 PREFATORY REMARKS. 
 
 Passing up a river in a steamer is not a very satisfactory mode of geologizing. The rapid 
 progress of the "vessel at some times, when in all probability the banks present many objects of 
 interest, which the naturalist would long to have the opportunity of examining closely, and the 
 necessary delays and stoppages at other times, in places where, probably, some wide unvaried 
 flat offers nothing for the geologist's hammer to work upon, both contribute to render the 
 information which can be so obtained but scanty and imperfect. 
 
 In our passage up the Irawadi, these difficulties were, as far as it was practicable, removed 
 by the kindly aid of the Envoy to the Court of Ava. In all cases where there appeared to be 
 any points of striking interest, Major Phayre most promptly acceded to my request for a tempo- 
 rary delay, which might permit their examination. But these stoppages, at best, could be but 
 brief. At the capital, also, through his support, I obtained means of seeing a good deal of the 
 country, and procured some useful information. Here difficulties of another kind intervened. 
 The ignorance of many who were appointed to accompany me, the jealousy of all the officials, 
 and the unceasing espionage and restraint which were maintained upon my wanderings, seriously 
 interfered with the easy acquisition of such information as I did obtain, and frequently involved 
 great delay and trouble. 
 
 Notwithstanding all this, I was informed, and I am inclined to believe with truth, that I 
 had been permitted to wander about more freely, and to see much more than other Europeans 
 had been. 
 
 I was especially desirous of visiting the celebrated Ruby-mines, not so much under the 
 impression that much of interest would have been observed immediately at the mines, as that 
 the country which should be passed over to reach them, and the ranges of hills by which they 
 
310 APPENDIX. 
 
 are surrounded, would have presented objects of special interest, and, in all probability, have 
 exhibited considerable mineral wealth. 
 
 I was also anxious to visit the large salt lake, which lies in the direction of Alompra's old 
 capital, Mout-tsho-bo. 
 
 But neither of these trips was permitted. The Ruby-mines are, indeed, most jealously 
 guarded from Europeans. I cannot find good evidence of any British subject having visited 
 them save one, who, having deserted into the King of Burma's dominions, was sent by the 
 then King to superintend the cutting of some drains and other appliances for regulating the 
 supply of water to the mines. 
 
 The trip to Mout-tsho-bo was objected to, on the ground of the roads being too muddy, and 
 day after day was lost, before even this very considerate information was vouchsafed ! 
 
 In perusing the following pages, therefore, it must be remembered that the whole has been 
 the result of less than three months' observation, carried on under the great disadvantages to 
 which I have alluded. 
 
 Brief, and I must confess unsatisfactory, as my account must be, I should not have been 
 able to bring together even the little that I have done, but for the warm and hearty co-opera- 
 tion of all my fellow-passengers. To Capt. Yule, Major Allan, and Dr. Forsyth, I am specially 
 indebted ; and to Mr. Grant for kindly sketching, and allowing me the use of his views of 
 some points of interest. 
 
 Future observers may enjoy much more extended opportunities of research, and thus add 
 largely to our knowledge of the state of the Burman Empire ; but they will scarcely find it 
 possible to look back with greater pleasure on the time spent within the dominions of " The 
 Golden Foot" than can the members of the Mission which visited Burma under the guidance 
 of Major Phayre in 1855. 
 
 NOTES ON A TRIP TO AMARAPOORA, ETC. 
 
 I joined the Mission party at Thayet-myo, on the 10th of August, 1855, and we started up 
 the Irawadi. 
 
 The hills, which at the distance of two or three miles below Thayet-myo approach the 
 river, and form steep ridges along its banks, are, near the station, separated from it by a wide 
 plain of some miles in breadth. 
 
 Winding round in a broken ridge to the west, they again form a higher, more marked, and 
 broken range opposite to Meeaday. 
 
 They are, throughout, composed of sandstones and shaly beds, of the same general character 
 as those which I have on a previous occasion * described as forming the ridges to the south of 
 Thayet-myo. 
 
 From this the wooded and irregular hills extend along close to the river, on the west bank, 
 up to Zounggyandoung, our first night's anchorage. 
 
 On the eastern bank the country is less elevated and undulating ; narrow flats, richly 
 clothed with vegetation, here and there extending between the river and the hills. Sharply 
 marked ridges of sandstone stretch away from the river at Zounggyandoung to the west ; some 
 of these beds are calcareous, and full of shells ; but the majority are gritty sandstones, open- 
 grained, and but slightly indurated, with alternating beds of a more clayey deposit, generally of 
 a bluish tint. 
 
 This ridge continues to hug the river-bank until near Maloon, whence it recedes to the 
 
 * Selections from Records of Government of India, No. x. 
 
APPENDIX. 311 
 
 west, and a belt of champaign country intervenes between it and the river, in which is situate 
 the present station of the Governor of the district, the village of Men'hla, on a flat and gravelly- 
 soil. 
 
 Thus far the channel of the river is well-defined and not very wide (1200 to 1400 yards), 
 with frequently steep and wooded banks ; but, passing Mengoon, while the ground on the east 
 of the river still continues elevated, and the banks high and decided, to the west the river 
 expands and assumes a lake-like character, is studded with numerous islands, and spreads from 
 two to five miles in width. Behind these plains, the elevated ground continues to extend 
 as far as Memboo, a little above and opposite to Magwe, whence a wide alluvial plain, 
 extending from ten to fifteen miles between the river and the outer spurs of the great Aracan 
 mountains, continues as far north as nearly opposite to Pugan, where another ridge, to which 
 wo shall have to refer again, approaches the river-bank. 
 
 Just above Men'hla, on the west bank of the river, a high cliff of soft reddish sandstone 
 projects boldly into the river, crowned by a small pagoda on the very edge of its precipitous 
 face, the warm colouring of the ruddy rock contrasting beautifully with the dense foliage of the 
 rich woods around. On the opposite side of the riyer, in approaching Mengoo-oong, the small 
 ridges of elevated ground stand out well-defined against the sky ; the unequal hardness of the 
 alternating beds of sandstone and shales giving rise to a curiously regular succession of inclined 
 beds, all dipping to the north and east, Mengoo-oong itself being situated on a bank of stiff 
 reddish clay, resting upon sands and gravels. 
 
 Passing Magwe, we first observe the commencement of a remarkable change in the general 
 character of the east bank of the river. From this, northwards for many miles, the level and 
 flat country which I have noticed, as seen about Magwe, is replaced by a succession of deep 
 ravines and water-courses, which cut through the soft beds of sand and pebbly gravels. The 
 softness of these renders them very easily worn away ; and a succession of these gullies comes 
 down to the water's edge, deeply indenting the otherwise straight and almost perpendicular 
 clifl', which constitutes the main bank of the river. 
 
 This bank is steep and high (100 to 170 feet), and the peculiar undulating surface of the 
 grassy slopes above, with the marked profile of the cliff overhanging the river, and the deep 
 tints of the rich foliage in the ravines, form many beautiful scenes. Along here fossilized 
 wood occurs on the banks, and not unfrequently of considerable size, washed out of the sand 
 and gravel of which the cliffs are formed. This remarkable raviny character of the bank is 
 not, however, fully seen until the village of Muggeebin is passed. Here the full force of the 
 current has come against the rock, and exposed a tolerably good section, showing a succession of 
 clayey sands, of sands and pebbly sands. Frequently intercalated masses or irregular lenticu- 
 larly -shaped beds of a hard calcareous sandstone occur, and occasionally of a dense ferruginous 
 conglomerate. 
 
 But the great mass of the cliffs is of a greyish or yellowish -grey sand, or clayey sand, 
 abounding in lamina} of false-bedding, and obviously the result of a very irregular deposition. 
 The face of the cliff is pierced by countless swallow-holes or nests. Over all this ground the 
 trees are small, stunted, and scattered, and the whole country looks parched, arid, and poor. 
 Around the villages, at the mouths of the small creeks and streams, some large, well-grown 
 timber (semul, mango, tal palm, &c), is seen ; but the general aspect is that of a very sparsely- 
 covered grassy plain, with deep and nearly precipitous ravines. 
 
 Between the villages of Kaushiyat and Theetabwe, the undulations of the surface become 
 less sudden and marked, the swelling slopes more easy, and the ravines less deep. This 
 character continues past the village of Shadaing, and appears to be partly due to the presence 
 of a thick bed of ferruginous sandstone, under the clays and sands of the cliffs, which has 
 
3 1 2 APPENDIX. 
 
 resisted the erosion. This^is not the ferruginous pebbly conglomerate, which appears to 
 continue along here near to the base of the cliff, but a fine sandstone, with a few white 
 quartzy pebbles, imbedded in a red cementing sand. Upon it rests the ordinary yellowish blue 
 clay. 
 
 This character partially continues to Sit-tha-bo-gle, but between the latter village and 
 Yenangyoung, the cliffs are much intersected by small ravines and water-courses. 
 
 It is only in the low holm-like little valleys that trees are seen, where the percolation of the 
 moisture from the river-banks affords sustenance to the roots. On the hill tops nothing larger 
 than a shrub can be traced, — everything is stunted and parched. Euphorbias grow luxuriantly, 
 and indicate the hot and thirsty soil of the district, while a thinly-scattered coating of grass 
 barely relieves the arid grey of the whole surface. 
 
 A stoppage of a couple of days at Yenangyoung gave an opportunity of visiting the 
 well-known Petroleum or earth-oil wells which occur in its vicinity, and of seeing a little more 
 of the country than the rapid progress of a steamer could elsewhere admit of. 
 
 Along the river-banks, the lower portion of the cliff is composed of regularly laminated 
 sands and clayey sands, so little indurated as scarcely to deserve the name of sandstones. Many 
 of the beds are slightly calcareous, and abound in calcareo-concretionary masses of the most 
 varied shapes and forms, many, at first sight, very deceptive, and looking exceedingly like 
 organic structures. The general bedding of the mass is quite regular ; but each layer or bed 
 abounds in oblique lamination, and often of a most complicated kind. A few pebbly seams 
 occur, and occasionally a thin layer of ferruginous sand, cemented into a plate of ferruginous 
 gravel, or a thin layer of the peroxide of iron. The whole series dips with considerable 
 regularity to the south-west, at angles from 25° to 30°. Numerous deep ravines cut through 
 these soft beds, and the fallen masses on either side assume the most fantastic outlines. Some 
 look like the lofty turrets of some great fortress, others are scarped into successive ledges or 
 terraces, and all are devoid of anything like verdure. 
 
 Over all these beds, but not continuously, is a layer of red gravel, abounding in white, quartzy 
 pebbles, generally loosely aggregated and incoherent, but occasionally cemented into a hard and 
 very dense ferruginous conglomerate. This conglomerate occurs irregularly in layers and 
 patches in the mass, and often projects from the face of the cliff a foot or more. 
 
 The position of this gravel, which does not occur continuously on all the summits, is easily 
 traceable, from the marked difference in colour between it and the sandy beds below. The latter 
 are of a greyish white, the gravel of a deep ochre, or rust-red. In this gravel here, I found the 
 broken femur of an elephant imbedded in the mass, and some fragments of tortoise bones. 
 Numerous fragments of silicified wood occur in it also, but the great masses, which are numerous, 
 occur in the beds below. Many of these are of great size. One that we saw was three feet four 
 inches in diameter, and more than four feet six inches long. It was endogenous, and had become 
 highly charged with iron. The upper portion of the country here, where out of the immediate 
 influence of the water-courses, is more level and less cut up, forming a general flat about 160 
 feet above the then (August) level of the river Irawadi. 
 
 The earth-oil wells are all within a circuit of a few miles of Yenangyoung, and lie princi- 
 pally in two groups, the most productive and valuable being near the village of Twengoung. 
 Some are along the slopes of the deep water-courses, others on the flat at top. One of these 
 water-courses, which extends from the wells to the Irawadi, gave a tolerable section of the rocks 
 of the district, although the frequent falling in of the soft beds here and there breaks up the 
 continuity. The series consists of one succession of beds of sand and clay, seldom indurated into 
 sandstone as a mass, although with frequent intercalation of nodular beds, or irregularly 
 arranged layers of large concretions which form interrupted beds. 
 
APPENDIX. 313 
 
 In the immediate vicinity of the wells these beds are nearly horizontal, and are, as a whole, 
 clayey, with sandy layers. These clays are of a bluish-gray colour, flaky, and with very small 
 and imperfect carbonaceous markings. In general, the lamination is very thin, and is shown by 
 successive alternations of clay and sand, frequently so thin and so numerous, that from fifty to 
 eighty occur in the thickness of an inch. 
 
 Where the sand predominates, this, of course, is not the case, and then the layers become 
 thicker and more marked. In places, these shaly beds are of a darker tint, and even blackish. 
 
 Imbedded in these are many small irregular patches of coaly matter, obviously the remains 
 of mineralised fragments of wood, which had been deposited in the silty drift, and subsequently 
 fossilized. 
 
 Portions of this are a true jet coal, with a brilliant lustre, and perfectly conchoidal fracture ; 
 other parts are powdery, friable, and like charcoal ; and every intermediate state may be seen. 
 In conjunction with these little seams and patches of coaly matter, there is invariably a thick 
 inflorescence of sulphur, giving a strong and well-marked colour to all about it. Traces of this 
 may be seen in many other parts also, where not in connexion with the small patches of coal; but 
 in nine cases out often, this development of sulphur occurs in connexion with the appearance 
 of the coal. Seams of sulphate of lime (selenite) occur in the shales or sandy layers along with 
 this sulphur ; both in regular seamy layers, and in thin veins ramifying through the mass, and 
 filling up every little crack and crevice. 
 
 Near the surface, but not traceable at a few inches from the exposed surface, nitrate of lime 
 is formed abundantly on the face of the rocks, and produces most beautiful groups of silky, 
 acicular crystals. 
 
 In these shaly beds are also many nodular concretions of earthy calcareous texture, which 
 are interesting as having, in almost every instance, an outer coating of what appears to be 
 identically the same material as to composition as the mass within, but having beautifully deve- 
 loped that peculiar structure known as " cone in cone." This occurs all round the nodule, and 
 not only on one side. The sandstones are chiefly thin-bedded, and regularly laminated; few 
 much indurated, but some of the layers are of a bluish-gray tint, very close-grained, and calcareo- 
 magnesian. 
 
 These on exposure weather to a brownish-yellow colour. This variety occurs principally 
 with the gypsum, and among the layers small ramifying veins of the selenite may be seen. 
 
 The gypsum seldom attains a greater thickness than one inch, and is often much less, although 
 the seams are numerous and tolerably persistent. It is beautifully transparent and pure. 
 
 Passing down from the wells towards the Irawadi, very similar rocks form the ascending series. 
 There is a tendency to dip towards the south-west, but nothing very marked, the group being on 
 the whole nearly horizontal, although rolled and slightly disturbed. In several places along 
 the banks of the water-course the petroleum is seen actually oozing out from the rock, and in 
 one place, it is very clearly seen to come out along the walls of a crack or break, which has been 
 filled up with calcareous sand, along the surfaces of which the petroleum issues. There is no 
 dislocation or shifting of the beds, but it looks simply like a crack, which has been subsequently 
 filled. Its direction is 30° south of east, and it is nearly vertical. Other faults are seen which 
 are accompanied by down-throws to the west (in one case of twenty feet, in another of seven 
 feet). These head 30° to 35° to the west of south, and underlie slightly to the west 85°. 
 
 Proceeding westwards, or towards the Irawadi, we find the rock dipping to the south-west, 
 at angles, at first of from 10° to 15°, but subsequently increasing to 25°. The series, in ascend- 
 ing, becomes less and less an intermixed group of clays and sands, but forms definite beds of 
 shales and sandstones, often of considerable thickness. 
 
 s s 
 
314 APPENDIX. 
 
 The sands are frequently false-bedded, and the clays more clunchy than below ; seams of 
 ferruginous pebbly beds occur, although not abundantly. 
 
 Still ascending in the series, thin layers of calcareous hard sandstone, which ring under the 
 hammer, occur mixed with the softer clays and sandstones, and higher up some patches of shelly 
 calcareous sandstone. 
 
 The enclosed shells are rarely perfect, the whole being one mass of small comminuted rag- 
 ments of shells, cemented with a hard sandy matrix. These patches are, however, rare, and the 
 series is, as a whole, singularly unfossiliferous. The sandstones are here more solid, thicker 
 bedded, and harder ; and this character continues for a thickness of about 300 feet. Above 
 these, we find another series of soft, sandy beds, with a few clayey layers ; but the prevailing 
 character is a soft whitish gray sand, constantly obliquely laminated, and in fine and thin layers. 
 A few coarser and pebbly beds occur, and occasionally a thin bed of clayey shale or silt. 
 
 This upper portion of the series is eminently sandy, while the lower portion, or that with 
 which the petroleum is found associated, is clayey. 
 
 Over all there is the same ferruginous quartz gravel seen near the river, and from this 
 numerous fragments of silicified wood, often of great size, have been rolled into the ravines, and 
 strew the bed of the stream. In an attempt to estimate the thickness of the series here seen, the 
 frequent disturbances which occur, although in no one locality great or very distinct, most 
 materially affect the accuracy of any calculations. These rocks are seen in the directions of the 
 dip for more than three miles, and the average dip may be taken as 20° to 25°. This would 
 give a thickness of about 5500 feet ; but from estimation of the thickness of the several groups 
 into which the whole series may be divided, I am satisfied that there is nothing like this amount, 
 and that the aggregate thickness of the whole, as far down as the group of beds yielding the 
 petroleum, does not give a total of more than 2300 to 2500 feet. 
 
 From Yenan-gyoung towards Menleng hill (Manlan of Crawfurd) similar rocks are seen, 
 covered, as to the north, by the same ferruginous gravel, and with abundance of silicified wood 
 spread over them. 
 
 The country is of the same general outline also, formed of a plateau of tolerably Wei and 
 flat country, intersected by numerous deep and irregular ravines. The whole has obviously 
 been originally a great flat or elevated plateau, which has subsequently been eaten into and 
 degraded by the action of surface-water ; and this has, moreover, been the result of causes 
 which have taken effect subsequently to the country having assumed its present general outline 
 and conformation. The beds of sandstone below the gravel are seen planed back to a perfect 
 level, and on their upraised edges, and resting trangressively on this flat surface, are the ferru- 
 ginous gravel and conglomerate beds in which the bones are found. 
 
 Mmm^ 
 
 a.. Gravel, h. Sandstone. 
 Fig. 39. 
 
 As shown in the sketch, the gravel is not eontinuous, but is frequently absent ; and, in such 
 cases, its absence is, I think, clearly the result of a subsequent removal, and not of original 
 irregularity in the deposit. 
 
 Menleng hill- top is composed of earthy calcareous beds of sandstone, which on the 
 
APPENDIX. 315 
 
 weathered surfaces has a yellow ochry tint, but when fresh-broken is of a blue gray colour. 
 The softer varieties of it are used for cutting into pipe-bowls. 
 
 This rests upon a ferruginous breccia, or partly angular conglomerate, the principal compo- 
 nents of which are ferruginous nodules of small size, quartz pebbles, much rounded, and small 
 nodular pieces of indurated clay slightly worn: little bits of blackish shale, and hard jaspery 
 quartz also occur. These form a nearly horizontal cap on the hill, resting upon thick beds of 
 blue clay or shale, not very finely laminated, but rather clunchy or lumpy, with veins of sulphate 
 of lime through them, and associated with soft sandstones, sands, and clays, in thin and regularly 
 alternating layers, all dipping at considerable angles to the south-west, and very similar to the 
 beds seen near the petroleum wells. 
 
 I did not find the bed containing Cyrena, which Crawfurd mentions having seen near this 
 (and from his account this deposit seems to have been quite local). But the interrupted con- 
 tinuity of the breccia or conglomerate can be traced near the summit of the hills at the other side 
 of the ravine, which passes close to Menleng on the north. The same beds can be traced con- 
 tinuously (with slight intervals) for some distance along the top of the hills, and in them can be 
 found many fragments of fossil bones. 
 
 In these rocks there are two well-marked series of joints, which dice up the mass into very 
 regular, lozenge-shaped pieces of tolerably equal size. These head east 10° north (principal 
 series), and east 70° south (secondary series). Both are nearly vertical. The beds have a 
 slight dip to the south-west, nowhere more than 5°. 
 
 The top of Menleng is approximately 270 feet above the level of the Irawadi at Yenan- 
 gyoung, the general level of the plateau from which it rises being about 160 feet. 
 
 Proceeding from Menleng, southwards to Nyaonghla, and thence to Theetabwe, a village 
 about a mile and a quarter below Yenan-gyoung, no trace of these ferruginous breccias can be 
 seen. After leaving the high grounds nothing occurs but fine sandstones and clays, sands and 
 sandstones, however, predominating, and all preserving the same general dip to the south-west, 
 at angles varying from 20° to 35°. There is obviously a great deal of disturbance ; but the 
 country, is much covered ; and to trace out these dislocations would require a much more minute 
 and detailed examination than our time admitted. Simultaneously with the disappearance of 
 the ferruginous breccias, the fossil bones and fossil wood ceased to occur also. Though not 
 occurring behind or more inland, there is a broken stretch of this conglomerate, capping the 
 hillocky ridges which skirt the Irawadi south from Yenan-gyoung to Theetabwe, and on to 
 near Wetmasot, and in it fossilized bones are found.* 
 
 * As would naturally be expected, these bones are very irregularly distributed, and occasionally are found in 
 great numbers, while again months will elapse without a single specimen being discovered. From all the accounts 
 of the Burmans whole carcases appear to have been imbedded, and when it so happens that the wearing away of the 
 beds in which they occur exposes these, " cartloads," as the natives said, are found together, nearly in a heap. At j 
 other times few or none appear. The bones, when fallen from their natural position, are rapidly broken up by 
 friction against the pebbles in the water-courses, and scattered in small fragments perfectly undistinguishable. 
 Frequently the broken pieces of a single bone will be found close together at the base of the cliff from which they 
 have fallen, and been broken by the fall ; and if the collector happen to meet them in this way, the fragments can be 
 readily united ; but the first shower that falls washes some portions away, and the rest are left detached, broken and 
 useless. We were unfortunate also, as far as a collection of the specimens was concerned, in the period of the year. 
 All those which had been exposed by the degrading forces of the rains preceding had been long removed, and the 
 season of destruction of the cliff was only commencing. Further, the river was now nearly at its highest level, and 
 tbe whole of the sloping bank on which such specimens would rest was covered. I had looked forward to a few days' 
 further exploration of this very interesting neighbourhood on the return of the embassy, but more important business 
 compelled Major Phayre to hurry down to Rangoon. During the two days we remained there, we found about one 
 hundred fragments and specimens. Major Allen, who was a most zealous and able fellow-worker on this, and all 
 such occasions, picked up a capital rhinoceros' tooth, &c. ; and from the natives we procured some good specimens 
 of mastodon, &c, and one tolerably good skull of an animal allied to, if not, Merycopotamus. And on our return to 
 
31 G APPENDIX. 
 
 All along the bank there is a great accumulation of strangely fantastic calcareous concretions 
 of every possible form, which have become detached from the beds of sand above, and heaped up 
 at the base of the cliff. Many of these might readily be mistaken for horns, bones, &c, and have, 
 I believe, been frequently collected as such fossils.* 
 
 This may be a suitable place to make a few remarks on the abundance of the supply of the 
 valuable product, earth-oil or petroleum. No absolute section of any of their wells could 
 be obtained. In all cases they are carefully timbered up as the sinking proceeds, and this 
 is continued from the top to the very bottom, so that no examination of the sides of a well or pit 
 could be made. The soft and yielding nature of the materials through which the sinkings are 
 made renders this necessary. And where they have not been successful in their adventure, or 
 when the well or pit seems to be exhausted, all the timbering is removed again, and the whole 
 allowed to fall in. 
 
 According to the natives, after passing through the sandstones and shales, visible at the sur- 
 face and in the ravines adjoining, they sink through what they call a " black soil," or " black 
 rock." 
 
 This, they say, is about ten feet in thickness, and is obviously their name for the dark 
 bluish-gray or blackish shales, or clunchy clays. 
 
 Under this they cut through a yellow soil, and from this they state that the petroleum issues. 
 Between the black and the yellow rocks there is commonly, although not always, a greenish bed, 
 oily, and strongly impregnated with petroleum ; and this, in all probability, is nothing but the 
 ordinary shaly clay, charged with the oil. 
 
 The " yellow soil " I fancy to be clayey beds, from which, or on which, sulphur has been 
 segregated or thrown out, as an efflorescence. 
 
 The wells are put down vertically. They are square or rectangular in section, and about 
 four feet six inches on each side. 
 
 Over each well a cross-beam, supported on staunchions at either side, is placed, and on the 
 centre of this is a small wooden drum or cylinder, over which the rope, used in hauling up the 
 oil, passes. 
 
 A common earthenware gurrah, or pot, is attached to the rope, and, being lowered, is 
 allowed partially to fill by sinking into the oil below, and is then drawn up by a man or men, 
 who walk with the rope down an inclined plane at the side of the well. The oil thus raised is 
 poured into another pot, or into a small basin excavated close to the well-mouth, and from this 
 is packed into gurrahs for conveyance to the village for shipment. Each cart conveys from ten 
 to twelve gurrahs, each gurrah holding about ten viss of the oil, or, on the average, 100 viss 
 (365 lbs.) on each cart. The oil is raised only in the morning, and, the quantity which each 
 well is known by experience to give having been raised, the work then ceases, and the oil is 
 allowed to accumulate during twenty-four hours. On the following morning the process is 
 repeated. The petroleum, when first extracted, has in mass a peculiar yellowish green colour, 
 is watery more than oily, and of the consistence of ordinary cream. 
 
 From some of these wells 400 viss (1416 lbs.) are extracted daily ; one which we saw had, 
 according to the statements of the natives, yielded this large amount daily for some months, and 
 
 the village, the Myo-thoogyi, or chief man of the village, had got together a couple of small baskets filled with 
 specimens which he had procured from the district of Yeo, at the opposite side of the river. 
 
 The inhabitants do not appear to place any value upon these fossils. 
 
 If they meet with a peculiarly well-marked one, a skull, — a jaw, — teeth, &c., they pick it up and bring it home, 
 frequently to become a plaything for their children, frequently to be converted into a substitute for weights. Major 
 Phayre very kindly endeavoured to interest the head man of the district in the matter ; and I have strong hopes that we 
 may be able to obtain from him many things useless to him, but of extreme interest to the Geologist. 
 
 * This has certainly been the case near Prome, and was also partially so with former visitors to Yenan-gyoung. 
 
APPENDIX. 317 
 
 from it this quantity had that morning been taken. Others, again, only yield sixty viss, or less ; 
 while not unfrequently, after large expenditure in sinking and reaching what they consider the 
 proper soil of the petroleum, the well will prove a failure and yield none. The wells* are 
 in two principal groups, as mentioned above, which are nearly two miles apart. They have been 
 sunk indifferently on the slopes of the deep ravines, and from the level plateau on top. They do 
 not occur in any particular line or direction ; there is nothing to point to the occurrence of any 
 fault or disturbance, along the line of which the petroleum might issue, and the varying depths 
 of the wells themselves, according to their position (those on the top of the plateau being, in all 
 cases, deeper than those on the slope of the hill-side, and this, approximately, in the same ratio 
 as the surface of the ground is higher in one place than in the other), indicate a tolerable hori- 
 zontalityin the source of supply. This is a question of considerable importance; for if it be the 
 case that one bed or layer of peculiar mineral character is the source of the petroleum, the pro- 
 bability, nay, I would say the certainty, is, that the supply must be gradually diminishing. I 
 could not learn that the number of the wells has been increased lately, while the demand for the 
 product has increased more than fourfold, and is daily increasing. These facts are sufficient to 
 account fully for the greatly enhanced price of the oil. The ordinary price of the petroleum, 
 previously to the British annexation of Pegu, was, at the village of Yenan-gyoung, from 10 
 annas to 14 annas per 100 viss. It has since increased from 1 rupee to 1-8; and an agent 
 for a mercantile house at Rangoon, who was there at the time of our visit, stated that he had to 
 pay even so much as 2 rupees 4 annas for 100 viss. At Rangoon, the price used to be from 2 
 rupees to 2-8 ; it now is never less than 5 rupees, and has been so high as 25 rupees per 100 
 viss. An export duty of 10 per cent is now charged on this oil. The Burmese government 
 charge also 3 per cent. Under the former system, it is stated that the charges, including the 
 established douceurs to brokers, &c, were not less. In number, the wells were stated by the 
 head-man of the village to be about 200 ; others said, 100. They certainly do not exceed in 
 number 200. The well, which yielded 400 viss per diem, was shown to us as a remarkable one ; 
 others were acknowledged to yield only 60 viss ; and I think there was a general tendency in 
 our informants to swell the amount rather than diminish it. The average yield of the whole, 
 therefore, must be much less than it was estimated to be by Mr. Crawford. Very careful 
 inquiries convinced me that the average could not be more than 180 viss from each well 
 per diem. This would give (allowing that there may be 200 wells at work, which I consider 
 beyond the truth) a total of 36,000 viss per day. If we take the working days as 300 in the 
 year (which again is, I think, above the truth, considering the number of holy days, &c, in 
 which a Burman revels), this would give a total produce annually of 10,800,000 viss. 
 Deducting from this l-20th as an allowance for waste, breakage of gurrahs, loss of boats, &c, 
 we should have 10,800,000—540,000=10,260,000, i. e. ten millions and one quarter viss as 
 the net available produce per annum. f 
 
 Another mode of arriving at the annual produce is, to take the number of carts employed 
 
 * One of the wells on the top of the plateau has a depth of 180 cubits (royal cubits = 22 inches), and they range 
 from 140 to 180, or from 250 to 330 feet ; while those on the slope of the hill vary from 100 to 60 cubits, according 
 to position, or from 180 to 110 feet, while the bed of the stream or watercourse is from 120 to 130 feet below the 
 level of the plateau. 
 
 t Mr. Crawfurd endeavours to arrive at an estimate of the population of the country from the average consump- 
 tion per family of this oil. If his estimate of consumption be at all correct, and that a family use 30 viss annually, 
 the above amount would only give a supply for 342 families, or for about 1,700,000 individuals, not one-half of what 
 he estimated. But all such calculations are fallacious in the extreme. 
 
 [It will be seen that Mr. Oldham's estimate here is considerably greater than that to which Major Phayre's 
 inquiries led, which is stated in Chapter I. But the next paragraph in the text indicates that some reduction in Mr. 
 Oldham's calculation is probably necessary. — K.] 
 
318 APPENDIX. 
 
 daily in the conveying of the oil to the point of shipment, and multiply this by the average load 
 of each. Now, we could not ascertain that there were more than 150 carts so engaged, if so 
 many. The average load of each of these is 100 viss, and taking, as before, 300 days' work, we 
 should have 100x150x300, only 4,500,000 viss annually, not one-half of what was stated 
 to us. 
 
 We have above calculated from the number of wells, as given by the Burmese themselves ; 
 I am convinced, however, that the number given is above the fact. I could not see any 
 reason to believe that in the larger group there were more than eighty, and in the smaller 
 or southern group more than fifty wells actually yielding petroleum ; the amount obtained from 
 the wells of the southern group is also much less than that from the northern wells. It is also 
 inferior in quality. In any view, either the produce has diminished most materially since 
 Mr. Crawfurd's visit, or he very much over-estimated it from erroneous data. I fancy that 
 both these causes have combined to render his estimate too high at present. 
 
 These wells are, each singly, or a group of a few wells close together, the property of 
 different individuals. In some cases they are a source of large and continuous profit ; in others 
 unsuccessful trials, which are not unfrequent, absorb all the profit, and even ruin the adventurer. 
 One of these pits costs from 1500 to 1800 Rs. — a large sum for such men to risk. Each family 
 or individual has certain tolerably well acknowledged limits, within which their rights of 
 property are confined, but questions of boundary are a source of constant litigation ; the opening 
 of a successful well close to the supposed boundary generally leading to a discussion of these 
 limits, and to long and angry disputes. The temperature of some of the oil, drawn up quickly 
 from a depth of 270 feet, was 90-00°, the air being 79-25° at the time, or a difference of 10-75°. 
 This temperature would appear to indicate a deeper source for the petroleum than the bed from 
 which it actually issues. The mean temperature for the day of observation (August 15) was 
 81-50; the average mean temperature for several days preceding and following would give 
 82-00. If, therefore, we take this as the temperature of the surface, and suppose that the line of 
 no-variation is 60 feet beneath the surface, and that the regular increase of temperature below 
 that is nearly the average, as established from observations elsewhere, viz. 1° for every 70° 
 feet, we should have a temperature due to 270 feet of only (roughly) 3° higher than the 
 surface temperature, whereas the actual increase observed was 8°, an increase which, at the 
 same ratio, would correspond to a depth of about 600 feet, and not 270. If, again, we take the 
 mean annual temperature of this place, calculating this by the ordinary formula (51° o'x cos. 1, 
 l=latilude of the place being in this case 20° 2' north) as 48-5, we shall find that the increase, 
 taking the same data as before, would indicate a depth of 2870 feet (roughly). I do not, 
 however, believe that this reasoning could be admitted as against the other clear proofs, that 
 the supply is actually from the beds from which the oil issues; and this increase of temperature 
 must be considered as due to the chemical changes which are in progress in these beds, resulting 
 in the production of the petroleum from the vegetable matter imbedded in the rocks. I shall 
 have to refer to other instances in which petroleum is found to occur. 
 
 Leaving Yenan-gyoung, the steamer skirted the left bank of the river, under a succession of 
 ravine-intersected cliffs of sands and sandstones, like those to the south of the village. At 
 about 2J miles from Yenan-gyoung (the small villages of Poungado and of Thengyoung lying 
 between), the large town of Peen-kyoung is situated at the mouth of a stream which is said to 
 have a considerable length of course. Passing this, the general aspect of the country changes 
 very materially. We lose the steep bluffs of sandstone, and there is a great stretch of long 
 swelling country, more richly cultivated and more covered with wood, though still by ho means 
 thickly or luxuriantly. As far, however, as the eye can reach, fences and cultivation can be 
 traced, and along the river-bank villages are more numerous, and apparently more comfortable. 
 
APPENDIX. 319 
 
 About a mile beyond this some low cliffs of loose sands and gravels (never more than forty- 
 feet high) are exposed. The layers are horizontal, and very irregularly developed. A few small 
 patches of ferruginous conglomeritic gravel occur, but, as a whole, these deposits are not 
 ferruginous, and are but loosely coherent. In many places along here fine trees clothe the 
 bank, and many beautifully picturesque groups are seen casting their deep shadows over the 
 smooth and glassy waters of the Irawadi. Occasionally undulating dry swells of the ground 
 (as at Shen-byen-sa-gyo, with its picturesque group of ruins), based on loose gravels, intervene. 
 
 The same general character of country continues to beyond Silleh-myo, with great flats of 
 river alluvium here and there. Above Silleh-myo, on the right or west bank of the river, is 
 the handsome and flourishing-looking village of Zeik-phyo, with its richly gilt and beautifully 
 situated pagodas, at the termination of a small range of hills, which stretch away northwards 
 and westwards for some miles. Opposite to this small cliffs (ten to twenty feet) of reddish gravelly 
 clay occur along the river-bank, and form the termination of a low swelling country, composed 
 of undulating and rolling plains, stretching away for miles to the eastward, and gradually rising 
 in that direction. 
 
 Passing Peema-kyoung, this plain country is replaced by a succession of ridgy hills, of no 
 great elevation, but forming a peculiar serrated outline, from the successive outcropping of the 
 harder beds among the softer sands and clays. The beds dip to south and west, at angles of 
 12° to 15°, and give a succession of long and sloping ridges with steep and sudden falls. 
 
 All are bare or very sparsely wooded ; a few stunted shrubs being the only vegetation 
 scattered over them, excepting the euphorbia, which luxuriates, as usual, in the aridity which 
 destroys everything else. This southerly dip continues for a couple of miles (about a mile and- 
 a-half beyond Seengoo oong), then the rocks suddenly become horizontal for a little way, and 
 then dip in the opposite direction at high angles (40° to 60°), averaging 45° to the 
 north-east. This continues to the point of Seengoo-oong, where a broad river-bed marks the 
 entrance of a torrent. 
 
 The series of rocks here is composed of blue clays and sands, with occasional hard and 
 calcareous layers with fossils. The whole group is very similar to that seen at Prome, and 
 contains similar fossils — conus, voluta, turritella, astarte, venus, pecten, mytilus, balanus, corals, 
 Crustacea, &c. &c. 
 
 Above Seengoo-oong the country, immediately adjoining the river, is low, flat, and churry, 
 the country behind being formed of undulating plains, rising gradually as they recede from the 
 river, and tolerably well clothed with timber, the small and stunted size of which, however, 
 indicates the arid nature of the soil. Large groves of palmyra palms occur along here, 
 generally in the vicinity of the villages. 
 
 From this, and stretching away towards Pagan, past the village of Thekyo-goung, there are 
 many low churs and islands in the river, until the southern termination of the Tang-gyi range, 
 which faces Pagan, appears. 
 
 The once-populous and important town of Pagan, with its countless ruined temples and 
 buildings, stands upon a high bank or flat, consisting of soft earthy sands and pebbly layers, 
 occasionally cemented by lime, and then forming concretionary masses or pseudo-stalactitic 
 concretions. The pebbly layers are generally ferruginous, and cemented by the peroxide of iron 
 into hard conglomerates, which, on the exposed face of the steep bank, often stand out boldly 
 from the general surface, the softer beds being washed away. This conglomerate occurs in two 
 or three distinct beds or layers, which, however, are not continuous, dying out and again 
 coming in after an interval. A few fragments of fossilized bones were seen here. The 
 same character prevails for some miles along the river-banks, from the bold and commanding 
 
320 
 
 ArrF.NDix. 
 
 point of Logalinundah,* upwards past the old and present town of Pagan. From Logalinundah 
 there is an excellent view of the Tang-gyi range of hills, crowned by the Pagoda on their 
 summit. Bare, or very thinly wooded, their tops slope away gradually to the south-west, in a 
 succession of lines parallel to each other, while bold craggy scarps face the cast. At their base, 
 an irregular and broken talus is formed of the numerous fallen masses and water-worn debris of 
 the rocks above. 
 
 These hills, the Tang-gyi or Dang-gyi range, are composed of a series of shales of bluish- 
 gray colour, with thin but tolerably regular beds of sandstone intercalated ; above which comes 
 a succession of thin-bedded sandstones, with thin partings of shales or clays, but no great or 
 marked deposit of clays. This sandy character is persistent to the top and back towards the 
 west. The thick beds of blue clay or shale form about one-third of the total height of the hill ; 
 the sandstones, the remaining two-thirds ; the hill being altogether, approximately, 1100 feet 
 above the river level. Near the summit there is a thick mass of sandstone (forty feet) which 
 forms a marked scarp under the temple.f 
 
 Along the more level ground at the base of the hills, near the river, the rocks are 
 composed of bluish calcareojis sandstones, weathering of a yellow tint, slightly dolomitic, and 
 associated with bluish clays or shales, and some more gritty layers. These all dip outwards 
 from the hill, or north-east, at high angles, and the hard gritty layers, standing up boldly 
 from the degraded surface of the softer rocks, often give rise to picturesque and striking 
 scenery. 
 
 Above, in the hill-side, the succession of rocks is very regular : they all dip conformably 
 from the scarp of the hill at angles from 12° to 15° to the south of west (west 20° to 30° south). 
 This change in the position of the beds seems to be the result of a great line of faulting or 
 anticlinal, which heads along the face of the hills in a direction north 20° to 25° west. 
 
 The continued succession and alternation of these harder and softer beds, and the low angles 
 at which they are placed, together with the thinly covered and arid nature of the surface, 
 owing partly to the incessant falls of portions of the rocks, and partly to the sandy and unpro- 
 ductive nature of the soil, give a remarkable character to the landscape, as seen from the top of 
 the hill. A repetition of well-marked and slightly inclined lines appears on each, even more 
 distinctly shown by the various tints which the beds assume on weathering. To the north-east of 
 the hill is seen the immense spread of flat country, through which the Irawadi winds its 
 course, only broken up by a few low hills on the horizon. To the east, the Thayo-wendine 
 range is seen behind Pagan, standing up boldly from the great plains, which stretch southwards 
 to Seengoo-oong. To the west, the Tang-gyi range drops by the successive falls of the 
 outcropping beds into an undulating country, through which the Yeo river winds towards the 
 south; and the same general undulating and broken jungle-clad country stretches away to the 
 north-west and west, as far as the eye can reach. 
 
 The series of rocks forming the lower portion of these hills is obviously the same as that in 
 which the petroleum wells at Yenan-gyoung are situated, and on examining some of the ravines 
 here, traces of this earth-oil oozing out and impregnating the masses, may be seen in several 
 places. It was in the continuation of these same beds, more to the south, that Wallich and 
 Crawfurd noticed the same occurrence of this oil, at a place which I had no opportunity of 
 visiting ; and I think there can be little doubt that this petroleum will hereafter be found to 
 
 * At the Pagoda of Logalinundah, a large piece of silicified wood is suspended freely, and forms no bad substitute 
 for a bell. There is a sharpness and shortness about its vibrations which metal has not, but the tone is good. 
 
 t In this, to the west of the temple, regular cloister-like galleries and cells have been excavated at two different 
 levels, and are carried round the two sides of a square-terraced platform, into which the rock has been formed. 
 
ArrENDix. 321 
 
 exist here in sufficient abundance to repay its extraction. In these lower beds also occur 
 similar thin seams and layers of selenite. In the sandstones rippling is frequent, but in all cases 
 rough and irregular. There is a distinct jointing, so frequent as to amount to an ill-marked 
 cleavage, heading north 30° west, and another series at right angles to this, and nearly 
 vertical.* 
 
 Proceeding northwards from Pagan, low cliffs of sands and pebbly beds extend along the 
 eastern bank, broken up by many small ravines and little creeks. These sands and clays have 
 been very irregularly deposited, and frequently present beautiful instances of false-bedding. 
 They occasionally form almost perpendicular banks of 130 to 150 feet high. The swelling 
 banks above are studded over with small scrubby timber, and intersected by little ravines, in 
 which the wooding is rich and the foliage luxuriant ; the deep shades of these patches of rich 
 vegetation contrasting beautifully with the warm tints of the steep banks. 
 
 A short distance above Nyaoungoo the banks become low and wooded, at first, studded 
 at intervals with scattered palms, and afterwards with large groves. Little villages are 
 embosomed among the trees, and the tall and graceful roofs of the poongyi houses shoot up their 
 pretty minarets among the dark foliage. Low banks (ten to twelve feet) of bluish clay are here 
 and there exposed by the cutting back of the river, but the whole country is low, and like a 
 great delta. The river-channel also becomes broken up by low grassy islands. Behind, at some 
 distance, the country rises into a series of waving, wooded hills of no great elevation, long 
 swelling undulations, all covered with cultivation. 
 
 This low wooded and delta-like character stretches to the north here for many miles past 
 Koonyuwa, Meengyan, Samaik-gon, Yandaboo, &c, and is the result of the great deposits 
 formed by the junction of the Kyen-dwen river with the Irawadi. 
 
 The river winds through a succession of islands and sandbanks, occasionally sufficiently 
 raised above the floods to be inhabited and wooded. The old bank of the river, that is, the high 
 and permament bank of the Irawadi, marking the extreme limit of its variations in channel, 
 can be traced along behind these flats, and is marked by a line of villages and a few spires, 
 while still farther eastward the ground rises with a swelling broken outline. The banks are 
 covered with immense groves of palmyra palms (cultivated for the manufacture of sugar), or 
 assume a more open, park-like character, with lofty trees ; and the whole country, as far as 
 seen, is very much richer and more fertile than any part between this and the British boundary. 
 
 Passing Samaikgon (where the extraction of saltpetre is largely carried on) the channel of 
 the river, still studded with islands, gradually becomes more defined. Moung-gway is seen in 
 the distance behind, and, the villages of Saypadaine, Gnahzoon, Yajinna, passed, a long reach 
 of the river through finely timbered country, with gently undulating and cultivated hills behind, 
 brought us to Kyouktaloung, where these hills come down to the river-bank. 
 
 They acquire the comparative importance which they possess only from their contrast with 
 the great extent of level ground about, for nowhere do they rise more than 100 feet above the 
 river-level. They form a series of small flat-topped- hillocks, with steep ravines between, com- 
 posed of yellowish-gray shaly clays, with yellow earthy sandstones, all dipping to west by north 
 at 15°: a few of the layers are hard and calcareous, but the majority are loosely coherent, and 
 soft and earthy. I saw no fossils. 
 
 The country behind, formed on these rocks, is a broken flat, the tops of the higher grounds 
 
 * The Pagoda of Tang-gyi is said to mark the spot where Gaudama stood, and looking down on the wide plains of 
 Pagan beneath him, foretold the future grandeur and glory of the capital which there would arise ; and, indeed, it 
 needed not much inspiration to see the favourable situation of that town for the general trade of the river. 
 
 This Pagoda is still much frequented, and a regularly paved, though now much broken, pathway leads to it from 
 the village below. 
 
 T T 
 
322 APPENDIX. 
 
 being nearly level along the strike of the harder beds, and then intersected by deep glens running 
 with the strike of the softer beds, which have been removed. 
 
 At a short distance to the north and east these rocks are all reversed, and dip to the east, as 
 far as time allowed me to see, by a general anticlinal stretching away back from the river. 
 
 The whole country, seen from the higher grounds, looks arid, parched, and barren. The 
 sandy, dry, and yellow soil peeps out all over, and is scarcely hidden by the stunted and half- 
 grown brushwood and coppice, which is sparsely scattered over it. Not a tree is to be seen for 
 miles together, not even a shrub taller than a man. In the dry weather, I fancy that the whole 
 of this raised district must be barren-looking to a degree that can scarcely be realised from its 
 present state (during the rains). 
 
 The open porous soil cannot possibly retain any moisture, and every blade of grass and every 
 leaf must be withered and scorched. 
 
 Advancing from Kyouktaloung, the successive ranges of hills to the east of the capital rise 
 into view. The river is more defined in its channel, although a few low islands are scattered 
 along. Low hills stretch along the horizon, behind the flooded banks of the river, and groves 
 of palms still mark the dry grounds. 
 
 Passing Lepanzing, the huge tope-like pagoda of Koungmhoodhau is seen in the flats on the 
 right bank of the river, and shortly afterwards the ruined walls and buildings of the old 
 capital, Ava, come into view. Scarcely a single building of any size now remains, with the 
 exception of one large pagoda, which had been repaired and renewed by the present King's 
 predecessor. Opposite to Ava, and placed under the flanks of the Tsagaing hills, is the once 
 populous and important capital of Tsagaing, now but a small and unimportant place. The old 
 walls remain, but are greatly broken and ruined. The Tsagaing range of hills stretches for 
 miles north and south, the southerly termination of the ridge meeting the river at the town of 
 Tsagaing : exactly opposite to it is the rocky promontory of Shue-kyet-ret, and between these 
 two points the channel of the Irawadi is narrowed to 800 yards, while both above and below 
 these points the channel widens greatly, and is studded with sandbanks and islands. 
 
 The average elevation of the Tsagaing ridge is not more than 500 feet, with some points 
 rising to 750. It is much broken up by small ravines and watercourses ; the surface is very 
 bare, covered only with a few stunted coppice-shrubs, and a very scanty herbage. The rocks 
 are gneissoso and hornblendic, with a thick run of limestone beds associated with them. The 
 lower beds are micaceous-gneiss thinly foliated, and intercalated with other beds, which are 
 hornblendic. These are also traversed by many veins of pure quartz ; above these comes a 
 - series of beds of limestone, highly crystalline, and in parts beautifully white and saccharine 
 marble ; but the majority of the beds are of a bluish tint, and flaky, owing to the occurrence 
 of thin laminae, rendered easily divisible by plates or scales of white metallic-looking mica along 
 the planes. These beds can be traced along the top of the ridge for miles. 
 
 Above the limestone come gneissose rocks again, more massive than those below, and of a 
 pseudo-granitic character, abounding in feldspar, with blackish mica. The whole series is 
 traversed by many veins of quartz, with specks of mica and small crystals of feldspar through 
 it (a granite, in fact, although almost pure quartz). In other places the quartz veins are speckled 
 with small crystals of oxide of iron, which decompose and give the mass a spotted look. 
 
 From the marble beds along this ridge much fine stone could be had : it is, however, not 
 quarried for such purposes ; all the marble used in their sculptured images, &c, being brought 
 from the marble hills about thirty-five miles north of the capital, where this white marble has 
 been obtained from time immemorial. This rock at Tsagaing is used largely for lime, the kilns 
 being situated at the southern end of the range, and their supplies of stone obtained from the 
 rugged scarp of the hill just above. From the admixture of siliceous matter with the limestone 
 
APPENDIX. 323 
 
 (as no care is taken in the selection of blocks), but all, as quarried out of the face of the hill, is 
 thrown into the kiln, much glassy clinker is formed ; but the lime produced is of very good 
 quality and colour. The promontory of Shue-kyet-ret, opposite to Tsagaing, on the left bank of 
 the river, is also composed of similar rocks, the bedding of the limestone and general arrange- 
 ment being marked by layers of gneissose rocks intercalated. The limestone is itself also foliated 
 by thin plates of mica in regular laminae. Here, as at Tsagaing, the bedding and foliation are 
 coincident. 
 
 Running parallel with the main ridge of the Tsagaing hills, there is a minor range, which 
 extends in a perfectly continuous line for five or six miles, nearly due north and south from the 
 town. It rises gradually towards the north to about 250 feet in elevation, and then terminates 
 somewhat abruptly. Towards the south this ridge seems to be composed entirely of sands and 
 gravels, heaped up or tailed on to the northern end of the same range, where the solid rocks 
 (gneiss, hornblende slates, &c), form the greater portion of the mass. Up the glen which 
 separates the two ridges the road to Mout-shobo proceeds. Near to the northern termination of 
 this minor ridge a marked spur is thrown out from the main range, and nearly crosses the valley 
 between. This is composed entirely of limestone, for the most part tolerably white, but with 
 veins of blue limestone through it ; the beds are nearly vertical, but dip to the north at (85°), 
 striking nearly due north (north 5° to 10° west). They stand up boldly in small mural crags 
 along the face of the hill. 
 
 Passing northwards from this, the country between the two ridges gradually rises into a 
 broken undulating surface, the western ridge dying away suddenly, at first by a scarp of about 
 ninety feet, and then blending into the general slope of the country along the hill-side. The 
 main ridge continues to be composed of gneissose and quartzose beds in thin layers, very much 
 twisted, underlying the limestone of which the Toungbela spur is composed. 
 
 About two miles north of this spur is the village of Kyoukta, close beyond which is a small 
 lake, the water of which is brackish. The taste is rather bitter than purely salt. A narrow 
 neck separates it from another of about the same size, which lies to the north of it, and at the 
 northern end of which is the larger village of Yega (bitter water). The country about here has 
 a remarkably sterile, bare aspect. Along the western side, the rocks are hornblendic slates, 
 associated with bluish argillaceo-micaceous slates, very earthy, and even in parts shaly. Their 
 colour is of a peculiar greenish blue, and they are associated with veins of a gneissose sandstone 
 in thin beds, and some few layers of calcareous rocks. The mass of the rocks along here is, 
 however, earthy ; still farther west, the beds are more distinctly sandy, and thicker. Limestone 
 abounds in the main ridge to the east. 
 
 In the manufacture of the salt, the process adopted is extremely simple. A frame of wood, 
 four to five feet square, and with sides about nine inches deep, is raised some six or seven feet 
 from the ground on posts. This frame has a matted or straw bottom nearly flat. Below this 
 frame two mats, or frames covered with grass (such as is used in roofing), are so placed that 
 they meet at an angle below, and just beneath and along their line of junction a hollowed piece 
 of timber or a split bamboo is placed, which serves as a tube to convey the liquid into gurrahs 
 or pots placed under it at one end. Into the frame above, the surface-soil or mud of the lake- 
 bed, previously scraped up into a heap, is thrown^ and over it is poured more of the water of the 
 lake. This gradually trickles through the matted bottom or floor of the frame, taking up with 
 it the salt formed round the particles of mud and gravel. This brine falls on the inclined 
 frames beneath, and is by them conveyed into the tube at the bottom, and from it collected in 
 the pots. If very dilute, it is passed a second time through the salt mud. It is then removed 
 and evaporated slowly in large flat iron pans or dishes (of Chinese manufacture) over a slow 
 fire. When considerably reduced in quantity, and thus tolerably saturated, the brine is ladled 
 
324 APPENDIX. 
 
 out into baskets, from which the water trickles through, leaving the salt crystallized on the sides 
 and bottom of the basket. This water is again mixed up with fresh brine from the lake and 
 evaporated ; and so the process goes on. The refuse salt, that which remains on the iron pans 
 after the water has been nearly all removed, and which becomes very dirty and discoloured, is 
 used by the people of the village in curries, &c, but they cannot find sale for it. 
 
 The salt, thus prepared, sold at the time of my visit (September 1855) for two tickals, or 
 two rupees eight annas, per 100 viss: each pan for evaporation yields daily, when at full work, 
 about five viss, or, as there are generally two pans at icork at the same time, ten viss per day from 
 each house ;* that is, ten days' work for two rupees eight annas, or about four annas per diem 
 divided among all the persons employed, and to pay for firewood, evaporating dishes, &c. &c. 
 This is wretched pay, and the people confessed that they could not support themselves by this 
 manufacture alone, but that they cultivated some ground at the same time. During the previous 
 year the manufacture paid very well, the price of the salt being then five rupees per 100 viss, 
 or double its present price. This salt, however, is not used by the wealthier classes of Bur- 
 mans, the salt brought from Bassein and Rangoon being much purer and cleaner, and therefore 
 preferred. 
 
 To the west and north-west of Yega, the surface is broken and ridgy, composed of successive 
 layers of sandstone-looking gneissose and earthy beds, greatly contorted and rolled, and with 
 thin seams of hornblendic rock intercalated, which often present appearances of having been 
 intruded as dykes. The twisting of the beds is often very sharp and sudden, as many as 
 two or three folds occurring in the space of twenty feet. West of these the rocks become 
 more sandy, and in thicker and more massive beds. The whole has a crystalline or pseudo- 
 crystalline character, the beds are semigranular, semigranitoid, and not much indurated, the 
 more clayey beds slightly micaceous, and foliated. There is no limestone with these rocks, but 
 the cracks and fissures in them are filled up with carbonate of lime, and strewed over the surface 
 are many fragments of the limestone of the other ridge. 
 
 North of this, and about one mile and a half to the west of the ridge of Tsagaing, traces of 
 copper have been found in the rocks, and at various times pits have been sunk to a small depth 
 here, with a view to the extraction of the ore. Very recently a hole had been put down about 
 twenty feet deep and about six feet square, and this enabled the rocks to be examined. 
 
 The ore, which is the carbonate (both green and blue) occurs in thin stringy plates, coating 
 the fissures of a hornblendic slaty rock, along the edge of a highly crystalline greenstone, which 
 looks like a dyke. This is essentially hornblendic in composition, well and largely crystallized 
 in structure, and solid and massive, but abounding in small cracks and fissures. In it also occur 
 thin strings of the copper, but these are apparently confined to a space of about one foot in 
 breadth, at the edge of this crystalline rock. Some of the picked pieces from this pit were 
 brought to the Palace and smelted, and were stated to yield five tickals of copper in the 
 hundred — five per cent. This may have been obtained from carefully selected fragments, but 
 as a source of the metal to any extent, this locality is utterly devoid of value. 
 
 The ground between this and the ridge of hills is very broken and bare, and greatly cut up 
 by water-courses and channels, the ridge rising rapidly from the uneven country to the west, and 
 stretching away towards the north with little diminution of its general height. It forms here a 
 narrow ridge intervening between the wide plains which stretch hence to the Kyen-dwen river, 
 on the west, and the river Irawadi, which washes the eastern base. 
 
 Above the narrow channel between the rocky points of Tsagaing and Shue-kyet-ret the 
 
 * There are generally three pans in a house, one being used to collect the brine from the crystallizing salt, the 
 other two for evaporation. 
 
APPENDIX. 325 
 
 Irawadi again expands to a considerable extent, and its bed is divided by many and large flat 
 low islands and churs. 
 
 These extend from this for many miles northwards (as far as Tsinguh myo), the western 
 bank of the river, for the greater portion of that distance, being well defined and steep or rocky ; 
 while on the east there is a wide extent of flat alluvial ground, broken up here and there by 
 small island-like ranges and hills. A few miles above Tsagaing point low bluffs, composed of 
 pebbly conglomerates and sandstones and sands, skirt the river-bank, and continue from this, 
 with little intermission, northwards as far as the village of That. These form a tolerably 
 regular terrace-like flat, intersected by many watercourses in front of the high ridge of the 
 metamorphic rocks, or between these and the river. Above the present or summer level of the 
 river they rise above fifty feet, and, seen from a little distance, the regularity and continuity of 
 this bluff-faced terrace is striking. 
 
 The layers of which it is composed are very irregularly deposited, and abound in oblique 
 lamination. They vary from coarse gravel (pebbles of quartz, limestone, mica slate, granite, 
 &c. ) to a fine, and in places, even earthy sand, and locally there are thin seams of clay in fine 
 lamina?. 
 
 Portions of fossilized wood (silicified) occur, but not abundantly. 
 
 Behind this flat rises the continuous ridge of the Tsagaing hills, its highest point, nearly due 
 west from Mengoon, being marked by the Shue-mindhe Pagoda. This ridge is, as towards the 
 south, here also composed of gneissose and hornblendic rocks, with crystalline limestones inter- 
 calated, occurring in endless succession. They are much contorted and disturbed, retaining, as 
 a mass, a dip to the north-west, but greatly rolled about. Veins of granite of varying size 
 traverse and cut up these rocks in the most fantastic ways ; and it would be scarcely possible to 
 sketch any arrangement of veins penetrating between the folia of the rocks, crossing and 
 separating the masses, or ramifying among the layers, which could not be paralleled in nature 
 here. 
 
 Many of these veins are of regular ternary granite, 
 occasionally having a general pinkish tint, from the 
 prevalence of flesh-red feldspar, but many others are 
 of a binary syenite, composed of quartz and horn- 
 blende in large flaky crystals ; occasionally feldspar 
 also is present. In all cases this variety seems to 
 affect a much more largely crystalline character than ' 
 the normal granite. This latter variety seems to be 
 of a date subsequent to the other, one instance of an 
 intersection of the two being observed ; but in the pj g 40> 
 
 absence of any quarries or openings into the rocks, the 
 
 question could not be satisfactorily determined during my hurried visit. It is probable, also, that 
 a more detailed examination will show that the results arising from the one are different from 
 those produced by the other. 
 
 Most of the limestone is whitish, occasionally tinged with blue, but often of a beautiful 
 statuary white, large in its crystallization, find in parts very abundant. 
 
 The top of the ridge is narrow, and the surface drops rapidly on either side, where the 
 faces of the hills are scored deeply by ravines and watercourses, which leave narrow saddle- 
 backed spurs between them. 
 
 The highest point of the ridge (Shue-mindhe) is 990 feet, barometrically determined, above 
 the level of the river. 
 
 At a very short distance above the village of That, similar rocks come down to the river-bank; 
 
326 APPENDIX. 
 
 and here also several broad veins of largely crystalline granite (quartz, feldspar, and hornblende, 
 quartz predominating) cut through the ordinary hornblendic gneissose rocks. The general 
 direction of these latter is 30° to east of south, dipping 60° to 70° to north-west. The veins 
 head nearly east and west. 
 
 On the eastern side of the river opposite to this is the large and populous town and district 
 of Madeya, decidedly the richest and best cultivated portion of Burma which we visited. And, 
 a short distance to the north, near the village of Mowe, are the famous Burman marble quarries, 
 in the small steep ridge of the Tsagyen hills, from which all the marble used in the manufacture 
 of their numerous figures of Gautama far the pagodas, &c., has been obtained from time 
 immemorial. 
 
 These hills form a small three-peaked ridge, the general direction of which is nearly north 
 and south (north 6° west). To the west the face is steep, and for one-half of its elevation 
 almost perpendicular, a steep talus forming the base : to the east the hill slopes down to the 
 plain, with a tolerably regular inclination, this face of the hill-side corresponding to the dip of 
 the beds of rock, which is here to the east at 35° to 38°. The great mass of the limestone 
 forms the summit and eastern face of the hills, and here are situated all the quarries from which 
 the marble has been extracted. The limestone rests upon hornblendic gneissose rocks, which 
 form the lower portion of the hills, and have produced the comparatively smooth talus-like base 
 of the hills. Upon the limestone above, and forming to the east of it, a small secondary ridge, 
 come beds of quartzose granular character, and quartzites of a bluish tint. These occasionally 
 assume mica and then become gneissose, and in some of the beds feldspar also is present. The 
 section of the hills in the direction of the dip would be as follows. 
 
 Fig. 41. 
 
 The limestone itself is, for the most part, tolerably pure and massive, but occasionally has an 
 imperfect lamination, given by flaky plates of mica arranged in lines in the mass. Small grains 
 of quartz also occur imbedded in some of the layers, which, being of the same colour as the lime- 
 stone, are not easily distinguishable, except on the weathered surfaces, where they stand out 
 from the general plane, and are easily recognised. 
 
 It is, in the mass, of a nearly pure white, and is largely and finely crystallized. 
 
 Portions of it have a delicately blue tint, while others are stained by ferruginous spots. 
 
 The whole face of the hill to the east is strewed with small chips of the marble, which give a 
 loose and uncertain footing, while the bright glare from the pure white and glistening surfaces 
 is as trying to the eyes as travelling in snow. The so-called quarries are holes put in wherever 
 the workmen imagine they will find a block of the size required, and generally filled up again 
 by the debris from some adjoining hole. There is not a trace of anything like systematic 
 working. Their tools are wretched ; they have no mechanical appliances whatever, and it can 
 only be by an immense and entirely disproportionate amount of labour that blocks of any size 
 can be ever obtained. The limestone is much cracked and fissured, and it would be difficult in 
 any case to procure sound blocks of large size, but, under the present mode of working, almost 
 
APPENDIX. 327 
 
 impossible. Some men who were at work informed me, that for years they had been trying to 
 obtain a very large block for the King, but could not. 
 
 The largest blocks they now obtain do not average more than four to five feet long, by two 
 to three feet thick, and even these are not frequently obtained, and are therefore expensive. For 
 smaller blocks there is a constant demand; the rougher blocks, those which are discoloured or 
 too coarse for sculpturing, are used up in other ways : large numbers are roughly shaped into 
 low spherical cones, to be afterwards finished and reduced into weights. The ten-viss weights 
 generally throughout the country are formed of stone, and principally of marble, and are always 
 of the same general form. Some are rudely ornamented with grooves radiating from the summit, 
 and passing down the sides ; others are more highly chiselled. For a roughly-chiselled block 
 of the marble, simply rudely shaped, the charge at the hills is eight annas. When finished, 
 one of these ten-viss marble weights* will cost from two to five rupees, according to the amount 
 of ornamentation. 
 
 The sculpturing and polishing of the images of Buddh is not carried on at the quarries. 
 The stone for these purposes is all boated down to Amarapoora and to Tsagaing, where are 
 located the workers in marble. 
 
 An Italian sculptor would smile at the rude processes they adopt. Seated on the rough 
 ground, the Burman grips the marble he is about to chisel with his toes, and hammer and tool 
 are rapidly plied. No model guides him in his work, calipers are quite unknown, and his 
 mind and eye alone supply him with dimensions. He rapidly reduces the rough mass to a rude 
 form or outline of the figure he intends to produce. A few rough lines with charcoal now 
 mark out the drapery or outline of the different parts, and the same process is continued in the 
 same way. 
 
 With larger blocks they are merely laid on the ground, their own weight giving the necessary 
 resistance. No frames, no revolving tables, nor any of the many contrivances which European 
 skill has introduced, are here known. 
 
 The work of smoothing and polishing is then commenced. The first process is with a rough 
 file or rasp made in the country, and of the rudest construction. Next small pieces of fine- 
 grained sandstone are used ; dipped in water, they are rubbed over the surface, until it be 
 reduced to a tolerably smooth and level ground. After that the last rubbings are given with 
 the powdered dust of the silicified wood, which occurs so abundantly in parts of Burma. This 
 they reduce to a perfectly impalpable powder by grinding it down on a stone with water. This 
 powder is taken up on a soft cloth wetted, and is rubbed strongly and carefully over the marble, 
 until a beautifully smooth surface is produced. The final polish is then given by the same 
 powder, applied by the hand of the workman. And thus the whole is rubbed up to a perfection 
 of polish equal to that ever produced in Europe. 
 
 Even the whitest lumps of this marble have a delicate tinge of light blue throughout, and 
 partly owing to this, and partly also to the generally large crystallization of the mass, there is a 
 peculiar semi-transparent look about the finished sculptures, which has most probably given 
 rise to the general notion that these images are of alabaster. This is much more conspicuous 
 in some blocks than in others ; and in these there is also a peculiar semi-unctuous lustre in the 
 crystals of the limestone. 
 
 The cost of such work and of the stone necessarily varies with the size of the image, and the 
 amount of care and finish bestowed on its sculpture. , An ordinary figure of a sitting Gaudama, 
 about three feet six inches high, is worth about 150 tickals, or about 180 rupees (18A), while a 
 
 * A standard is said to be given by tbe Court, and imprisonment follows the detection of either light or heavy 
 weights. 
 
328 AITENDIX. 
 
 block sufficiently large for such a figure can be had at Amarapoora for about fifty tickals, or 
 about 61. Smaller blocks are of much less value, and the larger increase rapidly in price. 
 
 To return to the quarries whence all this stone is procured. 
 
 On the face of the hill, and strewed over the surface, may be seen here (as also associated 
 with the limestone at Tsagaing, near Amarapoora) fragments of a reddish-brown clayey rock, 
 greatly indurated, and full of amygdaloidal vesicles, filled either wholly or partially with car- 
 bonate of lime, or empty. In the mass are angular fragments of the adjoining limestone 
 imbedded. This has, in fragments, all the appearance of a compact claystone amygdaloid, but 
 on examining more closely, I saw the source of it in several of the openings or quarries. The 
 limestone, as mentioned above, is traversed by large fissures, and these are filled in with a red 
 ferruginous clayey mass, imbedded in which are fragments of the limestone, all angular, and of 
 all sizes, from many feet across to a few inches or portions of an inch. These are imbedded 
 without any attempt at regular order or arrangement, but thrown together in every possible 
 way. The mass of this ferruginous clay is vesicular, these vesicles evidently resulting from 
 small air-bubbles, or from the development of some gas in the mass. 
 
 They can be traced in every possible gradation, from perfectly empty to perfectly filled, first 
 with a thin, transparent, and beautifully-glistening coating of carbonate of lime, deposited all 
 round the cell ; gradually other layers are formed, and the final step is when the whole cell or 
 cavity becomes entirely filled, and a small globular or irregularly-shaped nodule of calcspar is 
 the result. These can be broken out from the mass. 
 
 That this clayey mass has been a mechanical deposit, falling into and filling the cracks in 
 the limestone, is, I think, obvious from the mode in which it occurs in the larger, as well as in 
 the more minute and branching fissures and cracks, and diffused over the whole spread of the 
 limestone — not confined to any one portion. 
 
 But it must have been subjected to some heat since then, to have either expanded the small 
 air-bubbles, which may have been entangled in the mud, or to have generated the sufficient 
 amount of gas of some kind, to produce this effect. There is no trace of anything organic in it, 
 the decomposition of which might account for such appearance ; and the baked, indurated, and 
 almost porcellanic look of much of it, confirms the notion that there must have been some 
 action of this kind in operation here subsequently to the formation of these deposits filling the 
 cracks in the rocks. Similar appearances occur at Tsagaing ; and I am disposed to think that 
 this marble hill-ridge is the same development of limestone as the Tsagaing range. 
 
 The whole range has been faulted and dislocated in several lines, which have a general 
 direction east and west, being down-thrown to the north. The hills, seen from the west, stand up 
 thus. 
 
 Fig. 42. 
 
 The lower limit of the limestone is well marked by the termination of the dark precipitous 
 cliff which it forms. The direction of the dip here would tend to raise the apparent line of 
 junction towards the north, whereas it is seen much thrown down. These faults have produced 
 the deep cuts and gaps in the line of hills. From the summit of the highesUpeak of this marble 
 ridge there is an excellent view of the country all round, and of the valley of the Irawadi 
 
APPENDIX. 329 
 
 northwards, with its countless islands and churs. The Mawe myit, or creek, is seen to continue 
 for many miles in a tolerably regular channel, with many windings, from which it probably 
 takes its name (a snake), or from the village adjoining. 
 
 The banks of this channel are throughout well marked, being composed of stiff clay, and 
 scattered along are many villages of considerable size. To the west, the country is all flat, and 
 composed of large islands and sand-banks in the river ; while to the east, the range of hills 
 which stretches continuously along at some distance, throws out spurs and detached little hills 
 into the flats, many of which are close to the river-channel, and almost bound its course in 
 parts. 
 
 The small isolated knoll of Ketthing stands up in the centre of the river-channel north of 
 this, and forms the bluff against which the waters divide, a part passing down to the east, and 
 forming the Mawe myit, but the wider and larger channel, divided by many islands, being to the 
 west. This knoll is composed of dark red beds of tolerably hard ferruginous conglomerates, and 
 pebbly sandstones, irregularly distributed or developed in thick masses of sand, and soft sand- 
 stones of a whitish colour. These dip slightly to south and east. (East 15°, south about 5°.) 
 The northern face of the hills, against which the river impinges, is steep and nearly precipitous, 
 but the surface slopes away more gradually to the south and south-east ; and tailing away from 
 it towards the south is a great archipelago of sandy islands, stretching for miles down the river. 
 
 On the western bank of the river, from Endaung northwards, similar metamorphic rocks to 
 those which show at Gnaye Point extend up the river to the hillock of Minkwadoung. They 
 consist of alternating quartzose and hornblendic beds, with occasional seams of limestone. Veins 
 of granite traverse these in various directions, and the beds are much contorted, although dipping 
 on the whole to the south-east at high angles (80° to 85°). 
 
 From Minkwadoung to Yuathit, sandstones again come in ; they are pebbly conglomeritic 
 grits of yellowish tint, nearly horizontal, and of no great thickness. Above this, at the little 
 rocky point of Sahgwe, and at the small hill to the west of it, beds of gneiss and hornblende 
 slate, traversed by immense veins of quartz, and with some beds of limestone intercalated, occur. 
 Large masses of granite are seen lying about, and evidently from somewhere in the immediate 
 neighbourhood, but I did not see it in situ. To the west of these hills the ground is higher 
 than on the other sides, and is composed of soft whitish sandstones, with some few ferruginous 
 beds. These spread out towards the south also, and appear to continue southwards, forming 
 the higher ground beyond the river-banks. The old metamorphic rocks stand up here, an island 
 encircled by the sea of these more modern sandstones. 
 
 At the point of Sahgwe a curious rock occurs, which is in reality a conglomerate, very large 
 rounded masses of limestone (crystalline), of slates, and of quartzy granitic-looking rocks, being 
 imbedded in a crystalline paste, which, where exposed, is soft and decomposed, but which, on 
 the fresh fracture, is very like an even-grained greenstone. 
 
 It is a rock composed of dark-green hornblende, disposed in flaky crystals in the whitish 
 feldspar. The mass weathers of a dark colour, and looks, at first glance, like a loose dark sand, 
 with which the white colours of the large lumps of limestone strongly contrast. Its relations 
 with the rocks adjoining are not seen. 
 
 North of Sahgwe, the small ridge of Nattoung rises from the flats behind Lehkauk-kya 
 village, and is composed of gneissose and metamorphic rocks, which are skirted by the alluvial 
 deposits of the river, extending from their base to the small hill of Ketthing. 
 
 North-east of Ketthing the rocky point of Tsinguh-myo forms the southern bank of a wide 
 expanse of the river, which forms a deep bite, or bay, in the river, in the concavity of which 
 Tsinguh village is placed. The projecting headland is composed of highly vesicular greenstone ; 
 almost as vesicular as pumice, although the walls of the air-cells are highly crystalline solid 
 
 v u 
 
330 APPENDIX. 
 
 greenstone. It has a rudely columnar structure, being irregularly divided into large pentagonal 
 masses. On the northern skirt the rock is more compact but less crystalline, and instead of 
 being sub-columnar, is beautifully and most distinctly globular in structure, the mass peeling off 
 in most regular successive coats. 
 
 About a quarter of a mile or less (300 yards) south of the point, massive blocks of a similar 
 rock are seen on the bank of the river. 
 
 These masses all appear to be the exposed surfaces of two great dykes, which have a direction 
 east and west. Unfortunately no rocks are seen in junction with these dykes, and therefore 
 their relations cannot be traced. 
 
 Eastwards from Tsinguh, caves of some extent occur in the face of limestone hills, 
 which form a small outlying spur of the higher ranges to the east. These are close (one mile) 
 to the village of Male or Shuemale. The road passes the small villages of Kaubiung and 
 Dizah, and over a well-irrigated and well-cultivated district near Male, the water being derived 
 from the mountain stream, which here issues from the more hilly ground to the east. 
 
 To the south-east of the village of Male rise the small hills in which the caves are situate. 
 These, near the village, are composed of blackish-gray actinolite or chiastolite slate, dipping to 
 the north-west, and associated witli thin layers of quartzose and gneissose character ; near the 
 base, to the north, some beds of limestone are seen associated with the other rocks. The rocks 
 are traversed by two distinct sets of joints, the principal heading north 15° east, and the 
 others east 15° south, both nearly vertical, and dividing the mass into parallelopipeds. These 
 are very beautifully marked in the earthy beds. 
 
 Beds of bluish quartzite occur under these, and the series is traversed by many veins, often 
 of some feet in width, often thread-like. And below these again come massive beds of white 
 crystalline limestone (marble). 
 
 The surface of these is greatly water-worn, and eaten into the most fantastic forms ; deep 
 borings of six and eight feet in depth, with perfectly water-polished surfaces throughout, 
 enlarging towards the lower end. 
 
 The whole has much the appearance of having at one time formed, for a considerable period, 
 the bed of some river-channel. The entrance to the cave is about 100 feet above the level ground 
 below. 
 
 At first the descent is by ladders (ten feet) rudely constructed of bamboos, and very ricketty. 
 From that (about twelve feet) down steep slopes of limestone, and then, by a gently-sloping 
 descent, into the great chamber. Of this, the roof is about forty feet from the floor, and a few 
 stalactitic bosses depend from it, but these are not here abundant. 
 
 Turning northwards out of this chamber, the path ascends again about seven feet ; thence 
 west, through a narrow and low passage, through which a man must creep on hands and feet. 
 A narrow platform, or stage, here leads across a chasm ; and thence another narrow passage 
 opens into the second larger chamber. In one corner of this, behind a large stalactitic mass, 
 which reaches the floor, and in a small recess formed by another, which hangs down in pointed 
 cusps, a few gilded images of Gautama are placed ; and this is what they call their " pya," or 
 temple. Within the cave, the cleanly-washed surfaces of the rocks show the association of the 
 limestone, with thin-bedded gneissose layers, the different colours appearing in lines, like the 
 stripes in a riband. 
 
 The beds are gently, though considerably, rolled, but dip, as a whole, to the west very 
 distinctly. The massive beds of the limestone are themselves often mixed up with numerous 
 grains and semi-crystalline fragments of quartz, and occasionally of feldspar. The prevailing 
 colour is a bluish-white ; but portions are perfectly white, and others of a deeper blue. The 
 entire length of the excavation, or cave, is not more than 100 yards. The caves are lofty, and 
 
 X 
 
APPENDIX. 33 1 
 
 in parts roomy ; but the absence of numerous stalactitic masses, owing, I fancy, in a great 
 degree to the admixture of the quartzose rocks with the limestone, deprives them of many of 
 the beauties which caves generally possess, especially when lighted up. 
 
 The general range of hills which marks the eastern bank from Amarapoora, is here close to 
 these caves, and throws out to the north several spurs, which approach the river still more 
 nearly. North of Tsinguh-myo, these minor hills come almost down to the water's edge, and 
 the river-channel, which from Tsagaing up to this had been very wide, open, and full of sand- 
 banks and low islands, here narrows into a well-defined bed, with steep, and for the most part, 
 rocky banks on either side. 
 
 Several small villages are scattered along ; Mukouk, nestled under a small hillock, crowned 
 with a pagoda ; Shuedheik, Nuwagoung, and Laiwazu, are on the western bank, and Gnapeen on 
 the left. Kyoukmyoung, which is situated at the end of the reach opposite to Tsinguh, is a 
 larger town, from which a road goes westward to the old capital, Mout-shobo-myo. 
 
 The little rocky point on which Kyoukmyoung is placed is formed of a broad greenstone 
 dyke, cutting through soft yellowish-tinted sandstone, which is in some beds pebbly, in others 
 earthy. The greenstone is sub-crystalline, partially vesicular and globular in structure, being 
 more solid towards the centre of the mass than at the sides. The junction with the sandstone 
 on the south side is not visible, but on the north the sandstone in contact is considerably 
 indurated ; but the effect is not traceable at a distance of more than a foot. This sandstone is 
 pebbly. The dyke appears to run nearly east and west. 
 
 Sandstone of very similar character shows at intervals in the sandy banks to the north of 
 Kyoukmyoung, with masses of calcareous hard rock imbedded in lenticular and very irregular 
 forms ; the whole is greatly disturbed and rolling at small angles. With these yellowish and 
 massive sandstones, farther northwards, by the villages of Tseittha and Maoo, clunchy clays of 
 greenish tint, and sub-micaceous, are associated ; all continue to be disturbed and rolled, though 
 not on any very large scale. On the eastern bank of the river, greenstone is seen constantly 
 appearing in the bank, with little breaks of sandstone. These latter appear only on the more 
 projecting points of the bank ; and wherever the channel has cut into the bank more to the 
 east, the greenstone is seen. This would appear to be the result of the edge of a large mass of 
 greenstone being exposed along here, by the removal of the formerly existing sandstone. And 
 in the turn of the river, opposite to the village of Kibiung, this solid greenstone forms the bank 
 for a distance of nearly a mile and a half. 
 
 This greenstone is, for the most part, very highly vesicular, porous, and open, and appears to 
 have been produced under very slight pressure ; but in this highly-vesicular mass are enclosed 
 many large lumps of a close-grained, dense greenstone, intensely hard and highly crystalline. 
 These masses are of all sizes, from a few inches in diameter, and spherical, almost like a 
 cannon-ball, to several feet in length and breadth. Here and there, there is a slight exhibition 
 of the spherical or globular structure, but this is not generally the case. 
 
 The composition of these solid dense masses, and of the more vesicular and porous rock, . ■ 
 
 seems to be very similar, and to be of hornblende and feldspar, in nearly equal proportions. 
 Owing to the numerous and very large vesicles in the mass, in the thin walls of which alone <*6AtM~*^,M 
 the actual texture of the rock can be studied, this is not so apparent at first. No immediate ^V fc**/**,^^' 
 connexion of this with the sandstone can here be seen ; but close to the junction, wherever t^^j^* 
 seen, there is considerable disturbance in the sandstone and accompanying beds, which would 
 seem to point to local intrusion. If thus intruded, however, the mass is more than a mile wide, 
 but it may be an overflowing mass. 
 
 From Tsinguh-myo, the general course of the river is to the west of north, for ten or twelve 
 miles, when it suddenly turns to the east, and has a course to 30° north of east for about three 
 
332 ArraxDix. 
 
 miles, when again it resumes the nearly northern and southern course, which it retains for many- 
 miles. 
 
 In the eastwardly curve of the channel, of which the greenstone referred to above forms the 
 greater part of the southern bank, red ferruginous, shaly beds, crop out strongly on the northern 
 side, near Kibiung, dipping to the south-east at tolerably high angles, and are succeeded 
 (above) by thick gritty sandstones, with soft yellow beds intercalated. Through these a 
 strong greenstone dyke is seen cutting, the beds at either side being greatly disturbed. On the 
 south they dip to the north-east at 60°, while on the north of the dyke they have a south- 
 westerly dip at 70°. 
 
 Sandstones of very similar character continue to show on both banks of the river northwards. 
 As a whole, they are at low angles, and dip to the west (5° to 8°) ; but in one or two places 
 are reversed, and at higher angles. With them are associated greenish clunchy clays and 
 shales, and some thiok massive beds of pebbly sandstones, which occasionally become con- 
 glomeritic, and are throughout considerably disturbed. Some few calcareous beds occur inter- 
 calated, which are hard and close-grained, generally bluish on fresh fracture, but weathering 
 yellowish. 
 
 On the eastern bank of the river these sandstones appear to form only a narrow stripe along 
 the bank, being flanked behind by the continuation of the great range of the metamorphic, 
 micaceous, and gneissose rocks, which form all the higher hills. These rocks appear in the river- 
 banks on the eastern side, near the village of Thabietkyin, and on the western side more to the 
 north, near Yethaya. They are here hornblendic, with quartzose layers, much contorted and 
 traversed by numerous veins of quartz. These rocks, however, do not extend for much more 
 than half a mile, when pebbly and irregularly-bedded sandstones, with imbedded calcareous 
 nodules and masses, again occur. These form bluffs along the river-bank, dipping 70° to west- 
 by-north, as at Kyoukmye. 
 
 Above this the hornblendic and gneissose rocks again show, with some bands of saccharine 
 limestone. They are, for the most part, thin-bedded and much contorted, but have a prevailing 
 strike to east and west. These continue nearly up to Male, which is built upon a high bluff of 
 pebbly sandstones and conglomerates ; the pebbles being chiefly of quartz, and of metamorphic 
 rocks, with also occasional pieces of sandstones. Many large and rounded lumps of a fine- 
 grained granitoid rock occur, and many nodular aggregations of calcareous pebbly sandstones. 
 The whole dip at high angles (65° to 70°) to the west-south-west. These rocks extend for 
 more than a mile along the bank. And north of the point formed by them the river- 
 channel again expands, and the banks are fringed by sands and clays, concealing the solid 
 rocks. 
 
 My trip did not extend beyond this. 
 
 From the small village of Thingadhau, on the western bank of the river, I visited the coal 
 mines in that neighbourhood, to see which was the great object of my trip. 
 
 Coal is known to occur at three (3) separate localities, all lying westwards of the Irawadi, 
 at distances varying from five to seven miles from it. The most southerly of these localities is 
 near to the small village of Tembiung. 
 
 From Thingadhau, the road leads southwards along the ridge parallel to the river, as far as 
 the parallel of Pohbiu village, whence it turns to east, passing through an unbroken jungle, 
 open, and of small timber (the enbeng prevailing), on a sandy soil, through which, here and 
 there, great massive beds of sandstone protrude. 
 
 Close to the Irawadi, the prevalent character of the rocks is clayey, bluish-green 
 silty beds predominating ; but, more inland, the prevalent character is sandy, few earthy beds 
 occurring. 
 
APPENDIX. 333 
 
 Near the river, also, the dip is, on the whole, to the east, while farther inland it is to the 
 west. The country is, however, so covered, that it is impossible to trace the point of change. 
 Near the village of Tembiung, a stream of some size is passed, which, preserving a north and 
 south course, falls into the Irawadi close to Kibiung ; and about one mile and a half west of 
 Tembiung, in a small watercourse which is a feeder of the Kibiung stream, the coal was found. 
 It crops out in the bank for about fifty yards, and is again seen at a little distance in the 
 continuation of the same strike, and obviously the same beds. With its associated beds, it dips 
 to west 30°, south at 15°. 
 
 The coal rests upon blackish-blue clunchy slate, or shale (one foot) blue-gray clunchy and 
 sandy clay, with a few imperfect impressions of leaves and stems (three feet) ; similar rocks, 
 blackish and more regularly laminated, or shaly (one to two feet) ; blue-gray clunchy clay (two 
 feet six inches), passing downwards into reddish, hard, ferruginous clunch. Close to the outcrop 
 of the coal on the east, comes the edge of an immense spread of greenstone, of the same general 
 character as that seen in the bank of the Irawadi opposite to Kibiung ; and the occurrence of 
 this is accompanied by a roll over, or twist, in the beds associated with the coal. The immediate 
 junction is, however, concealed. 
 
 The bed, which has been called coal, is altogether four feet thick, but this is the thickness from 
 top to bottom of the black beds. In this, closer examination shows that the top is composed of 
 six inches of smut, or powdery, coal-like matter ; then come nine inches of blackish clay, with 
 thin, thread-like seams of coal-; below this, the rest of the bed (two feet nine inches) is coaly ; 
 but the best layers are confined to about one foot three inches at the bottom of the bed. 
 
 From this bed a considerable amount of coal had been raised, and a large proportion of this 
 still remained on the bank of the little stream, crumbling rapidly to powder from exposure. 
 Some had been sent down to Amarapoora, and some we had seen on the banks of the Irawadi, 
 at Kibiung. This had been, I believe, all raised witli a view to its sale within the British territory 
 in Pegu, but it was found unremunerative. The coal is of blazing character, burning freely and 
 rapidly, with good blaze but with considerable ash (twenty-seven per cent). It is in structure 
 quite flaky, and is, besides, split up by very numerous joints and cracks, which divide the masses 
 into small pieces, and tend to make the coal rapidly disintegrate into fine slack. This defect 
 was very striking in the portions which had been raised, and the men who had worked at it 
 complained much of its brittleness, and of the difficulty of getting it out in lumps, and of the 
 large proportion which broke up so small, that they had to leave it behind in the mine. 
 
 I am satisfied that, while such is undoubtedly the character of the bed, much of the mischief 
 was due to the wretched tools with which they worked, and the unskilful manner in which the 
 excavation was made. The tools they used were the ordinary wood-cutting axe, and their 
 grubbers or spades, consisting of a kind of large chisel inserted in a wooden handle. With 
 these, it was scarcely possible to avoid breaking up the coal into slack. But the brittleness and 
 tendency to break up into small lumps are quite. sufficiently obvious to prevent this coal from 
 ever being economical for any lengthened transport. For many purposes within moderate 
 distances of the mine, it will prove an useful and capital fuel. 
 
 From the mines to the Irawadi it would require to be carted, as no water-carriage exists. 
 The Kibiung stream is quite unfit for such purposes, having water in it only after rains. But 
 the ground is here not very unfavourable for a road, and the distance either to Kibiung or to 
 Pohbiu, on the Irawadi, would not be more than five to six miles. 
 
 The second locality in which coal has been discovered in this district is about five miles 
 more to the north, and along the upper waters of the Kibiung stream. 
 
 It lies about five miles westward of the village of Thingadhau, and is exposed in the banks 
 of a watercourse, generally dry, but down which, after rain, a considerable torrent rushes. 
 
334 APPENDIX. 
 
 The coal-bed, including in this (as in the other case) the immediately associated layers of 
 blackish coaly shale, &c, is five feet six inches thick. It rests upon bluish clunchy and sandy clay, 
 under which occur clean white sandstones, with intercalated beds of bluish black sub-micaceous 
 silts, thinly laminated. Thick soft sandstones, passing downwards into harder micaceous and 
 sub-calcareous beds, underly these. This sandstone is of considerable thickness, varying 
 slightly in coarseness and in texture, and also in tint, from pinkish red to a pure clean white. 
 Under this sandstone come ferruginous silty beds, which, on exposure, become very red on the 
 joints and fissures. 
 
 The coal itself is very flaky and woody in structure. In the sandstones false-bedding 
 is frequent, and well-marked. The whole group dips with tolerable regularity to the west, 
 at 5° to 8°. 
 
 The mass of the black " coal bed " is earthy and impure, but thin layer-like masses of rich, 
 glossy, conchoidal jet are found in these earthy layers. The surface of these jetty portions, when 
 partially decomposed, presents on the small scale a beautifully columnar structure. In the coal, 
 in small imbedded pieces and in thin stringy layers, occurs a rich amber-coloured gum or resin, 
 easily burning with a blaze. It occurs also in another very interesting form, in minute strings 
 or fibres, passing through and along, and filling up the small interstices in the fibrous or woody 
 structure of the jet. This gives to the mass, from the peculiar contrast of the rich yellow tint 
 of this ambery gum, with the black jetty coal, a very rich silky-looking texture. The whole is 
 eminently of lignite aspect and character, and the peculiar arrangement and disposition of these 
 ambery -looking masses point at once to their being the juices which have exuded from the 
 masses of wood, the decomposition of which has been one great source of the formation of this 
 coal. About 100 yards to the north, the same bed is seen a little back from the stream, holding 
 its average thickness as before. 
 
 The third locality in which coal is found lies about eight miles north-west of Thingadhau 
 village. It lies in a district, the drainage of which is to the north and east, not to the south, a 
 small dividing swell or ridge separating it from the other localities to the south. 
 
 The road leading to it, or rather the jungle^path, passes over a peculiarly broken and 
 irregular country, formed of soft, easily decomposing sandstones, which break up readily into 
 irregular ravines and hollows, giving a surface over which it would be exceedingly difficult to 
 form a good road. 
 
 The coal has been exposed in a great open space in the jungle of bare sand, resulting from 
 the disintegration of the soft sandstone, in which a few irregular patchy layers of ferruginous 
 pebbly beds occur, which stand up boldly, not yielding to atmospheric action, as do the clean 
 sandstones enveloping them. 
 
 The coal is exposed for about 200 yards, close to and in the bank of a small mountain-torrent 
 bed, now quite dry. This is called the Manda Kyoung, or stream, and is said to enter the 
 Irawadi close to the village of Yethaya, above Thingadhau. The thick sandstones seen all about 
 pass under the coal, and between these grits and the coal there is a varying thickness of bluish 
 clunchy underclay, with numerous impressions of stems of large grassy -looking plants, and a few 
 larger and thicker stems. The latter (the thicker stems) are best seen in section, where the 
 bank is cut away. The original bark or shell of the open stem has been converted into jetty 
 coal, and forms a regular ring, often perfectly circular, often slightly compressed ; the interior 
 being filled in with material the same as the bed of clay in which they occur. The upper part 
 of this clay is of a brown colour, from admixture of carbonaceous matter. Its thickness varies 
 from nine to twelve inches. 
 
 The coal rests immediately upon this, and is in structure flaky, but hard, compact, and jetty, 
 witn small imbedded lumps of ambery -looking, resinous matter, precisely similar to that seen in 
 
appendix. 335 
 
 the other ccals. With these occur also minute, bright, glossy particles, and some thin layers, 
 looking like vegetable matter carbonized; and in the mass are also imbedded numerous fragments 
 of charcoal, or mineralized charred-wood. These are exceedingly fragile. This coal, on expo- 
 sure, breaks up into flakes, and becomes covered with a thin ferruginous film.* It breaks out 
 in better masses, and is much less brittle, than the coal at the other localities here visited. The 
 bed varies slightly in thickness, from three feet nine inches to four feet, and is not broken up so 
 much as the other by layers of earthy texture and character. Two distinct backs or main 
 jointings are seen in the coal : of these, one heads north 35° east, and the other east 45° 
 south. Both are slightly inclined, underlying to the north and east, and dividing the mass into 
 parallelopipeds. 
 
 A good deal of coal had been raised here, but none had been removed, the country proving 
 impracticable for carts. It now lies in open heaps just above where the coal is seen, and 
 will rapidly disintegrate. Several small parallel faults traverse the rocks here, all being accom- 
 panied by slight upthrows to the north. Three of these are seen within the length of surface 
 over which the coal is exposed, respectively throwing the coal fifteen, six, and three feet (the 
 most southerly being the first mentioned) : these all head south 25° west, and underly at 75° to 
 80° to south-east. There is no apparent disturbance in the beds further than the mere shifting, 
 the coal coming cleanly up against the sandstones, and holding the same dip and strike on either 
 side. To the north of this, other small faults, holding a parallel direction, are seen, but the 
 coal itself becomes covered up with detritus. 
 
 This is unquestionably the most promising locality of the three referred to. The coal is of 
 better quality and more durable, the roof is strong, and the floor also good, and the whole series 
 dips at the lower angle of 8° to the north-east. Over the coal there is a thin layer of shale, covered 
 by thick solid sandstone. 
 
 The principal difficulty here would be the very broken nature of the country over which it 
 should be carried to the Irawadi : the distance, however, is not great — seven to eight miles ; and 
 I doubt not that this coal will hereafter prove a valuable deposit. It is, in general aspect and 
 character, like most Indian coals, flaky, and with thin earthy partings, the presence of which 
 produces the generally large percentage of ash which is found to be present ; but the layers of 
 coal are fine, jetty, bright coal, highly blazing, and yielding a large amount of gas. I do not 
 anticipate that any of these coals will pay for working, with a view to distant or extended 
 carriage. They would disintegrate and break up too rapidly to allow of their being remunerative 
 in this way; but for all the upper part of the Irawadi river-navigation, and for the supply of 
 any demand which may arise in or about the capital of Burma, I look upon them as holding 
 out a fair promise of a good fuel, in sufficient quantity. 
 
 The country all around being at present covered with thick forest and jungle, it was impos- 
 sible to follow out these beds of coal, and trace their connexion one with the other ; but, from 
 their general character and arrangement, and from the associated beds, I am disposed to think that 
 the first and second localities represent one and the same bed, at opposite sides of an anticlinal line 
 through the series, while the third locality belongs to an upper bed. I found no fossils in the 
 sandstones associated with the coal, excepting near to the village of Thingadhau, where leaves 
 of dicotyledonous trees occur, tolerably preserved, in a hard bluish calcareous grit. The mark- 
 ings in the shale under the coal are too badly preserved to be of any value, only giving a clue 
 to their general character. 
 
 A reference to the map will show the position and general relations of these coal-beds, and of 
 the other rocks associated with them. 
 
 * In this, as in general aspect, fracture, and character, this coal is very like the inferior portions of the Cherra- 
 poonji coal. 
 
336 
 
 APrENDIX. 
 
 From many of the streams in this upper part of the Irawadi course, gold is washed. This 
 is seldom carried on systematically, or for any time ; as the people find they have leisure they dig 
 for a few days, and then return to their ordinary work. They never go to any great depth, eight 
 feet being about the maximum of their pits. The larger amount is obtained from the streams 
 which lie to the east of the Irawadi, but those to the west also yield it. The Kibiung stream is 
 one in which it is thus sought. 
 
 As I have already mentioned, from Tsinguh-myo northwards, as far as Male, the river- 
 channel is well defined by steep banks, wooded down to the water's edge, and is unencumbered 
 by sand-banks or islands, with the exception of one small island opposite to Thingadhau, on which 
 the ancient and much-venerated Pagoda of Thihado is built. But above Male the river again 
 resumes the same open, wide, and sandy character which characterised it below Tsinguh from 
 Tsagaing. Numerous large sandy islands and banks fill up the broad valley, and to the east 
 the hills die away and recede from the bank for miles. On the western bank, after passing the 
 broad bay just above Male, small hills come down to the river-bank and continue for miles. 
 These are said by the people to be a continuation of the Tsagaing ridge, and are called the 
 Mon-wun-toung. They nowhere attain any great elevation, the highest points not being more 
 than about 600 feet above the river. They are all thickly clad with timber of no great size, but 
 thence, as far as the eye could reach, nothing but unbroken jungle of this kind met the view. 
 Close to the village of Male there is a small extent of flat ground, occupied by the cultivation 
 of the inhabitants. To the east, the view is bounded by the noble range of hills which divides 
 the valley of the Irawadi from the district of the Iluby-inincs. * 
 
 Fig. 43. 
 
 This range continues towards the south a massive and lofty group of hills, but towards the 
 north quickly dies away. 
 
 Returning to the capital, I had subsequently an opportunity of visiting the hills which lie 
 to the east of the city, and more especially the bold craggy peak of Mya-leit, whose broken 
 outline and boldly-scarped sides form so prominent a feature in the landscape. 
 
 Our route lay nearly eastwards from the capital for a considerable distance, passing over a 
 
 * The people at Male stated that these hills were only occasionally and unfrequently visible, owing to the constant 
 fogs and mists which hung around them. They further stated that mow lay on them for four months in the year, 
 beginning with the middle or end of November. 
 
ArPENDix. 337 
 
 large extent of jheely-cultivated country, all under rice-crops at the period of our visit. 
 The water for this irrigation is derived from the great reservoir of Oungbengle. Our route 
 was necessarily very circuitous. There is a good road from the capital, which goes nearly 
 straight to the village of Shan, or Shanyua, but after the recent rain this was said to be im- 
 passable. 
 
 The village of Shanyua is situated close to the junction of the Myit-nge and Nadoung-gya, 
 and is not more than three-quarters of a mile from the large town of Shuezayan. 
 
 In the latter is an extensive group of temples, clustered together on a rising ground to the 
 north of the village. One of these is much reverenced. It is traditionally said to have been 
 built by a Shan princess, probably by a Shan princess who had become Queen. 
 
 The entire group has been greatly shattered by the earthquake of 1839, and only a few out 
 of the number have been repaired. This town of Shuezayan is a great entrepot for the barter 
 of the well-known hlapet, or wet tea, so largely used throughout Burma. Knots of Shans, with 
 great droves of cattle feeding around, formed picturesque groupings round the foot of the temple- 
 steps, and among the noble trees adjoining, all waiting here to exchange tea for salt, &c, for 
 their return-journey. The road leads past here to Thoungze, and so on to Theebo and 
 Thein-ni. 
 
 On the opposite side of the river Myit-nge is the small village of Meethuebouk (charcoal- 
 burning-village), from the neighbourhood of which a large supply of wood and charcoal is sent 
 to the capital. The path to the noble hill of Mya-leit* leads from this through the jungle to the 
 east, thence doubling round the northern face of the hill. 
 
 It strikes the hill about two miles from its extreme end. Winding up the steep face of the 
 hill, over small and loose fragments of the limestone, through dense tree and bamboo jungle, the 
 path leads to a small depression or gap in the regular ridge of the hill-top. From this, 
 scrambling over the most rugged and broken crags of limestone, from every crevice of which 
 some tree sprang, I reached a northerly summit of the range, from which a noble view of 
 the plain of the Irawadi spread before my gaze. To the north, as from a great sea dotted over 
 with islands, the few isolated hills rose from the sunny plain. The noble peak of Mya-leit, with 
 its steep side and broken outline, formed a grand foreground to the flats beyond. Eastwards the 
 eye ranged over a succession of hills rising with long slopes, and curiously unbroken outlines, one 
 range over another. The gorge of the Myit-nge was beneath, with its muddy stream flowing 
 tranquilly between the dark and well-wooded banks. To the west and south the hills shut out 
 all distant prospect. 
 
 The top of this hill forms a narrow, very broken, and irregular ridge, formed entirely of 
 crystalline and sub-crystalline limestone, which rises in great rugged blocks, every crevice of 
 which is filled with clusters of bamboos and stunted trees, the surface of the rock being, as 
 usual, eaten away into the most rugged and uneven surface. The blocks are fallen and heaped 
 together in the most inextricable confusion, but below all this, the dip of the beds is traceable 
 (to west at 50° to 60°), and this dip, or rather the surface of the beds, forms the general slope 
 of the hill on the west. 
 
 The tower-like summit of the ridge, so well marked as seen from below, is composed of a huge 
 mass of limestone, which stands up boldly, like a turret from the general outline of a castle-top. 
 
 Looking down from the top of the hill, the sharpness with which the hill-ranges to the east 
 rise from the great plain is well seen. The great flat jheely country seems to spread to the 
 very base of the hills, which rise suddenly and rapidly like the steep shores of a rocky coast. 
 The bedding is distinctly visible, the edges of the different layers standing out boldly on the 
 
 * See page 336. 
 
 X X 
 
338 APPENDIX. 
 
 sides of the hill, dipping to the west and south at angles from 40° to 50°. Along the base of the 
 hill springs throw out their waters, and, taken in connexion with the disturbance in the bedding, 
 seem to indicate the occurrence of a line of dislocation along the flat of the Myit-nge here, 
 nearly in a due north-and-south direction, and coinciding with the general steep face of the 
 hills stretching away from this northwards. 
 
 The course of the Myit-nge from this to the Irawadi is very tortuous, the stream itself 
 being both wide and deep, with a tolerable current. The banks are thickly inhabited and 
 prettily wooded — all composed of clay and sand. In places, this clay is largely used for common 
 pottery-work, of which a considerable supply is sent to the capital. 
 
 We left Amarapoora on our return-voyage on the morning of Monday, the 22d of October. 
 We arrived at Pagan on the afternoon of the 23d, and remained there the 24th, of which 
 stoppage I took advantage to visit the Thayowendine, a small range of hills near the town. A 
 tolerable road, evidently one of considerable traffic, leads from the town close to the northern 
 base of the hills, and proceeds thence to Paopa, through an undulating dry country, all under 
 cultivation (maize, sesamum, &c). Reaching the hills, and doubling round a small spur of the 
 range, I turned up the face of the range, along a path leading to a small pagoda, situated on the 
 most northerly point. From this the range was seen stretching away to the south in a succession 
 of sharp points and narrow -topped ridges, presenting to the east a steep and sharply -scarped 
 face. Parallel to the main ridge, and about 150 yards from the base, was a smaller line of hills, 
 raised not more than 150 to 200 feet on their highest points, and stretching away in parallel 
 and regular line. 
 
 Between these and the Irawadi a gently-swelling flat of cultivated ground, with a few 
 scattered trees and patches of low coppice, intervened, cut up by watercourses, which marked 
 the channels of the torrents that occasionally rush from these hills, and which have scored the 
 sides of the range itself into deep gorges. Towards the east and north, the country presents 
 exactly the same character, stretching away to the lofty and commanding hill of Paopa, which 
 rises boldly on the horizon.* The Thayowendine range is composed of soft earthy sandstone, 
 with some flaky beds and thin shaly layers. A few calcareous nodules and beds also occur. 
 The range is divided across the centre by a deep gorge, through which a stream called the 
 Toungboungwa flows from the east, and empties itself into the river Irawadi at the village of 
 Tuengwa, below Logahnundah. This is dry during the cold weather. Close to the northern 
 end of the range is the large and wide bed of another stream, now dry, called the Shuegyoung, 
 which falls into the river near the Shueyagong Pagoda, in Nyoungah village. 
 
 To the south of the Toungboungwa gap, the general direction of the range is slightly 
 diverted to the east, and there seems to be a line of disturbance crossing the ridge just here. 
 
 * To the south end of Paopa hill, a curious solid-looking mass stood up above the general outline, like a huge 
 
 building, or much like what the great 
 Mengoon Pagoda would«have looked, 
 if so placed. The Burmese with me 
 said this was a detached hill, and in 
 form they described it as like a great 
 
 , cylinder rising from the level of the 
 
 ground, and the top of which they 
 
 declared to be perfectly inaccessible. 
 
 pj 44 (Fig. 44.) Between it and the main 
 
 hill runs, according to their account, 
 a stream of considerable size in a narrow gorge. Paopa is famous in Burma for its iron, and is the locality of 
 many superstitious legends. I regretted greatly that I could not get to it. Judging from its outline, and from the 
 resemblance of this to that of the metamorphic hills above Amarapoora, I should be inclined to say that it was com- 
 posed of the same group of rocks. 
 
APPENDIX. 339 
 
 Numerous little shifts and breaks in the strata are visible, whilst the main prevailing dip of the 
 group is to the west, or west 20° south, at angles from 25° to 45°.* 
 
 On returning to Pagan, we obtained from the governor of the town (Myo-thougyi) some 
 very tolerable fossil bones, which, agreeably to promise, he had had collected during our ab- 
 sence at Amarapoora. These were from the district behind or west of Tang-gyi, in the country 
 of Yeowah.f These were the more acceptable, as business of importance requiring the pre- 
 sence of the Envoy at Rangoon deprived us of the opportunity of searching for others, which 
 we anticipated, by remaining two or three days at Yenankyoung, where we only anchored 
 during the night. During this night (October 25-26) a heavy fall of rain occurred. There 
 had been showers at intervals during the day, but heavy rain commenced at about two o'clock 
 a.m. on the 26th, and in less than two hours afterwards the wide-spread and sandy bed of the 
 stream, over which we had walked dry in the afternoon, was covered with a rushing torrent. It 
 came down suddenly, swept away all the huts which had been erected close to its banks, and 
 broke loose the boats which were at their moorings, at the mouth of the river. These were 
 driven against the steamers, and several were suak, and their cargoes of oil floated down the 
 river in great discoloured patches. This sudden and tremendous rush, which came down like 
 a torrent, afforded a capital instance explanatory of the cause of one very interesting and peculiar 
 feature in the country of Burma. Everywhere wide large river-beds are seen, — often several 
 hundred yards wide, — but for the most part perfectly dry. Occasionally, a little trickling rill 
 slowly glides along, in the midst of a great expanse of sand. And, apparently, there is no sufficient 
 force to have produced these large channels. But such a torrent as came down upon this occa- 
 sion amply explains the real state of the case. In Pegu Proper the same appearances are not 
 presented ; there moisture is everywhere more prevalent ; buildings rapidly become covered with 
 thick coatings of moss ; trees are choked by the luxuriant growth of varied masses of creepers 
 and underwood ; and the streams are more constant ; but, passing northwards into Burma, the 
 aspect of everything changes. No more striking or more remarkable instance of this could be 
 quoted than the almost total absence of these sources of decay from the countless ruins of 
 Pagan. And, no doubt, this absence has contributed greatly to the preservation of the ruins 
 themselves. 
 
 On our return down the river, we visited some " mud volcanoes," which are situated close to 
 the village of Memboo, nearly opposite to Mahgwe. The day was wet, heavy showers only 
 interrupting a continual drizzling mist ; but, nothing daunted by this, Dr. Forsyth, Captain Yule, 
 Mr. Grant, and myself, started. Turning southwards through the long street of the village 
 (Memboo), and passing out over two small watercourses, we entered a track, broken by small 
 irregular ridges of low hills, partially covered with shrubby coppice. Our course lay nearly 
 parallel to the river, and at about half-a-mile inland, or to the west of its banks. The first 
 indications we met with of any approach to the locality were little streams of bluish muddy 
 water, occasionally seen smoking, and which, on tasting, proved saline. At little more than a 
 mile from the village, on topping a trifling rise in the road, the view opened on a great sea of 
 blue mud, with a few projecting humps in various parts, and all, now well wet, looking as slushy 
 and soft as possible. Gradually the scene opened a little, and rising from this great swelling 
 spread of mud were seen several conical hills, standing up boldly to various heights. From 
 these, in radiating lines, flows of the mud could readily be traced, marked by the different 
 degrees of consolidation which they had acquired, and the consequently different modes in which 
 
 * The sparseness of the population may be estimated from the fact that there are said to be only four villages 
 between this range and Paopa (forty miles), or five between Pagan and Paopa. These are, Thuaso; Toungwa ; 
 Myoung beng-gan ; Doungle ; Paopa : all small. 
 
 t This is the district referred to by Col. Burney as a new site for fossil bones, &c. — J. As. Soc. Ben. i. 1090. 
 
340 
 
 AITENniX. 
 
 they reflected the light, as well as by the peculiar manner in which the drying of the mass had 
 produced jointing or division planes in it. At short intervals a hollow gurgling sound was 
 heard, followed by a kind of flop in the mud. 
 
 Proceeding closer to these small conical hills over the mud, which, although looking so wet, 
 was tolerably consistent, we mounted the side of one which appeared to be more active than the 
 others, and found the centre, or conical hollow, or " crater" of the volcano, filled nearly to the 
 brim with bluish-gray, oily-looking mud, — liquid mud, — about the consistency of heated pitch, 
 although, of course, less adherent. This crateriform hollow was not exactly at the summit of 
 the cone, but at one side, and a little below the summit. 
 
 As we watched it for a moment, the whole surface of the liquid mud within heaved and 
 swelled upwards, like the heaving of the human chest on inspiration, and suddenly a great 
 bladder-like expansion of the mud was thrown up, and, breaking, fell back into the caldron 
 below with a sullen flop. At one side was a narrow channel or opening, the bottom of which 
 was just above the level of the fluid mass when at rest, but through which, at each successive 
 throw, a portion was ejected, and came flowing down the side of the cone in a regular channel 
 which it had formed for itself, its surface marked by thin filmy flakes of the earth-oil, with which 
 it is partially associated. These thin films followed the curved bands of the quasi-viscous mass, 
 and so produced regular bands of colour on the surface of the stream of mud. The mud and 
 
 Fig. 45. 
 
 muddy water thus thrown out is only slightly salt to the taste, but is used largely in the pre- 
 paration of salt close by ; the process being similar to that employed elsewhere over the country 
 and consisting simply of lixiviating the mud, collecting the water thus passed over it, and 
 concentrating it to crystallization over slow fires. 
 
 There is a strong smell of petroleum, and this may be seen, as I have mentioned, thrown out 
 in small quantities with the mud. But I could not trace any other smell in the air discharged ; 
 certainly no sulphuretted hydrogen, nor, I think, carbonic acid. We had no means of collecting 
 the air for analysis. 
 
 Of the cones of mud, the highest is about fifteen feet from the general level of the mud 
 around, and is very regular in form. From the very summit of this, a little jet of mud was 
 
APPENDIX. 
 
 341 
 
 thrown up at intervals to the height of a foot or more. The most active hill or cone is not more 
 than twelve feet high, the crater or hollow being about four feet wide at top, and a little 
 
 Fig. 46. 
 
 below the summit. Another high cone of twelve to fifteen feet occurs to the south of these, and 
 remains of others now inactive and partially washed away again are seen close adjoining. The 
 people of the village said, that occasionally one of these, which had been perhaps for months or 
 years extinct or inactive, would again commence to heave and discharge mud, while frequently 
 the exact position of the discharging orifice, in others which were in operation, would alter. 
 
 I noted carefully the intervals of the outbursts or 
 heaves of the most active of these vents, but found them 
 very irregular, both in time and in intensity. There was 
 no law traceable with anything like accuracy, although 
 there did appear to be a rude approximation to some law 
 by which the main burstings or heaves occurred at in- 
 tervals of about thirty seconds, these greater shocks being 
 accompanied and followed by many little heavings, or the 
 bursting of small bubbles, in the interval. 
 
 The mud, flowing down the side of the cone, forms for 
 itself very rapidly a channel or canal raised above the 
 general level. This is produced by the mud on the edges 
 and sides drying up more rapidly than towards the centre; 
 small raised banks are thus formed, between which the 
 still fluid mud ejected at each successive burst flows in 
 a tolerably continuous stream. The section of such a 
 channel, raised above the general level of the muddy 
 flat, was as represented in the accompanying sketch (Fig. 
 47.) Occasionally the side would burst, or be broken 
 down, and then the fluid would find an exit, and produce a side or branch-channel, in which the 
 same phenomena would be repeated. While fluid, and in motion, curved lines of structure, 
 awing to the more rapid flow of the centre as compared with that of the sides, dirt bands, &c, 
 
 Fig. 47. 
 
342 APPENDIX. 
 
 could readily be traced. But, when dried and solid, the desiccation of the mass of mud containing 
 so large a quantity of moisture gives rise to numerous large cracks, and open joints or fissures, 
 traversing the mud, with comparatively definite direction in the lines (see sketch), the most marked 
 being at right angles to the sides of the channel in which the mud flowed ; and others, again, 
 nearly at right angles to the former, diceing up the whole mass rudely into square fragments. 
 
 Half a mile northwards from these mud heaps there is a group of springs of petroleum, rising 
 out of the level flats at the foot of the small range of hills. One was in active operation in a 
 pool or hole about three feet six inches wide, constantly bubbling up. 
 
 There was a large discharge of gas or air, and after the bubbles had burst, the oil could 
 be seen floating on the surface of the water, in little flaky, thin coatings, exhibiting the most 
 beautiful prismatic colours. 
 
 This pool or spring had its wall on a level with the ground around, or barely raised above 
 it ; but to the north of the spring, about twenty yards off, there was a mound, apparently, at first 
 sight, of a kind of coaly lignite, but which, on examining and breaking it, proved to be a cone of 
 mud originally thrown out by springs similar to those described above, but which springs must 
 have brought with them a much larger relative proportion of petroleum than those now in opera- 
 tion. This had impregnated the muddy mass, and formed a brown-black substance, readily in- 
 flammable, and, in fact, an earthy-brown coal. Occasionally in it were fragments of vegetables, 
 leaves, &c. &c, imbedded, and in some of the small cavities were portions of the petroleum con- 
 solidated into a hard, black, pitchy substance. This conical heap was eight to ten feet high, and 
 about twenty-five feet in diameter at the base. Other small springs occur to the north of this, 
 and in the same line, but our time did not admit of our visiting more. 
 
 The temperature, both of this spring and of the muddy liquid in the cones, was 87°, that of 
 the air at the time of our visit being 81° (the mean temperature of the day being 79° 50'). 
 The villagers said, no flame was ever observed, but that occasionally smoke was. I fancy, as 
 they said this only occurred in the cold weather, that their smoke was only the result of the 
 heated air of the spring coming in contact with the colder atmosphere, and producing a cloud. 
 
 Leaving Memboo, the steamers proceeded rapidly down the Irawadi. But few and brief 
 stoppages were made, and the party arrived oft' Rangoon on the evening of the 30th of October. 
 
 In concluding these notes, a brief resume of the geological results may possibly be advan- 
 tageous. I have purposely omitted any reference to matters other than geological, and the 
 account of my progress has therefore been dry and tedious. All information bearing on other 
 points, which I may have obtained, has been handed over to Captain Yule. And in his report 
 also will be found a discussion of the discharge and sources of the Irawadi, with some reference 
 to which I had purposed concluding this report. The geological structure of the country tra- 
 versed by the Irawadi, so far north as I was enabled to see it, is very simple. From the first 
 appearance of the works at Akouktoung, above the delta of the river, up to Kyouktaloung, not 
 far from the old capital of Ava, nothing but tertiary rocks appear in the river- valley. In some 
 places, the stream rushes through gorge-like channels in these rocks (as above Prome), in other 
 places wide open flats, much like the dried-up beds of former lakes, extend on either bank. And 
 the river-channel is thus made up of a succession of these lake-like expansions, and of narrow 
 and defined channels communicating between them. 
 
 Of these tertiary rocks, the main or prevalent strike corresponds nearly with the direction of 
 the river-channel. And the varying character of the strata has, in several cases, given rise to 
 the character of the channel. Thus the degradation and removal of a thick bed or beds of blue 
 clay between hard sandstones, has produced the narrow rocky channel at and above Prome, &c. 
 
 But while such is the prevalent strike, there is also much disturbance, much faulting, and 
 much contortion of the beds. 
 
APPENDIX. 343 
 
 Resting upon the broken edges of these beds, there is another series of strata of sandstones 
 and conglomerates, for the most part much softer than the former, and but little contorted or 
 disturbed. These are principally sandy, in a few cases calcareous, though without any true 
 limestone, and frequently much charged with iron, derived from infiltration. In these beds 
 principally the fossil bones are found. They form the flatter expansions between and among 
 the ranges and hills of the older tertiaries, and the plateaus on their low summits. 
 
 The geological age of the older group appears to be tolerably well established, as being of 
 the Eocene epoch. Such was the era assigned, and justly assigned, to the fossils brought from 
 Prome, &c., by Mr. Crawfurd and Dr. Wallich, after their careful examination by Dr. Buckland ; 
 and such is the epoch which has been established for these rocks from the examination of still 
 larger collections more recently acquired. 
 
 The age of the more recent group is not so fixed. From the great similarity in the character, 
 and in a few cases absolute specific identity of the fossils, they have been referred to the same 
 era as the Siwalik group of India. But the corresponding epoch among European strata is not 
 determined. I have, on the map which accompanies this report, set them down doubtfully as 
 Miocene. 
 
 Near the capital, ranges of metamorphic and crystalline rocks appear, having a prevailing 
 direction north and south, and forming well-marked hill-ranges. The immediate connexion of 
 these rocks with the tertiary strata, I have nowhere been fortunate enough to see. But, so far 
 as the evidence goes, it seems to prove that they had been elevated, and had subsequently been 
 degraded, until they had assumed pretty nearly their present general form, previously to the 
 depositions of the tertiary beds around them ; and that these latter were formed along the 
 shores and between the islands formed by the metamorphic rocks. 
 
 Subsequently to their deposition they were themselves invaded and disturbed by outbursts 
 of volcanic matter, which in some places appears to have been formed in great rents in the rocks, 
 now appearing as dykes, and in others to have actually overflowed the then existing surface. I 
 have not seen anything to show that these trappean intrusions were not prior to the depositions 
 of supposed Miocene beds. 
 
 Some recent deposits have again been formed round and over those, and are still being formed 
 by the river throughout its course, and in its great delta.* 
 
 * Fossil Bones, S(c. — Rough list of fossil bones, teeth, &c., procured during the trip, given principally to indicate 
 approximately the relative abundance in which the several kinds have been met with. Time has not sufficed for the 
 careful examination of these, so as to admit of a full description being given. 
 
 Jaws and Teeth. 
 
 Elephant-, tusk '. .2 
 
 Ditto, lower jaw 1 
 
 Mastodon, ditto ............ 1 
 
 Ditto, molar tooth . . . . . . . . . . ■ . .1 
 
 Rhinoceros, tooth 1 
 
 Tapir (?) lower jaw 1 
 
 Deer 1 
 
 Portion of Cranium, with two orbits and two lines of imperfect molars, shape of 
 
 Cranium like Sus, teeth like Merycopotamus 1 
 
 Gavial fragments . . . . . . . . . . .-.5 
 
 Bones. 
 
 Pachydermata 35 
 
 Ruminants ............. 10 
 
 Crocodile 24 
 
 Tortoise 21 
 
 Ditto, large 17 
 
 Undistinguished ............ 16 
 
344 ArrENDix. 
 
 Note on Metals, Minerals, Sfc, of Burma. 
 
 The following brief notes on the trade in metals and valuable minerals in the Burman Empire 
 have been compiled, partly from information collected by myself during my visit to the capital, 
 from inquiries among the natives, but principally from information furnished by Mr. Spears, to 
 whom I submitted a series of questions bearing on the subject, to which he kindly gave me full 
 replies. 
 
 The portions marked with inverted commas are verbatim extracts from Mr. Spears's notes. 
 
 Gold. — There are few circumstances which attract the attention of the visitor to Burma 
 more forcibly than the frequent use of gold in decoration, both externally and internally, in their 
 sacred buildings and royal edifices. The whole exterior of many of their largest Pagodas is gilt. 
 In the capital, some of the most beautiful and elaborate Khyoungs or Priests' houses are covered 
 with the richest and most ornate gilding from top to bottom; find in some cases the cost of the 
 gilding alone for a single building has exceeded £10,000 sterling. On the occasion of festivals 
 also, it is a prevailing custom among the Burmans to attach to their Pagodas leaves of gold, 
 even when the building generally is not gilt. Thus, on almost every temple throughout the 
 country, which may be situated near to a village of any size or wealth, little irregular patches 
 of gilding may be seen. 
 
 Further, there are few Burmans so poor, that they cannot afford to purchase some rich 
 ornament, some piece of jewellery. Golden ear-rings, finger-rings, neck-chains of gold, often of 
 great weight and elaborate workmanship, are frequent ; and the vast amount of wealth which 
 may be seen exposed, in this way, on their great festivals or holy days, for which such rich 
 ornaments are reserved, is most remarkable. In many other ways also, although on a smaller 
 scale, gold is generally used. Gilt umbrellas, used by every high officer of state in the country, 
 in number varying with his rank, the gilding of toys, of small ornaments, of books, &c. &c, — 
 all these absorb an amount of the precious metal which, in the aggregate, is considerable. Of 
 this large consumption, but a very small portion is supplied by the country itself. Gold-dust 
 is washed from the sands of many streams ; it is found near Bamo, it is brought from the 
 Kyen-dwen river, &c. &c. ; and I found it in the sands of the streams in the vicinity of the coal- 
 mines of Thingadhau. 
 
 But by far the larger portion of all the gold used is brought from China. It is imported in 
 the form of thin leaves of gold, made up into little packets, each packet weighing about one 
 viss. The leaves are of the thickness of ordinary strong foolscap paper, and in size about six 
 inches long by four broad. 
 
 From China the annual importation is about 300 viss, or nearly 1100 lbs. Mr. Spears states, 
 that he has known the importation for one year to be as high as 500 viss, or upwards of 1800 
 lbs. weight. 
 
 The greater portion of this very large quantity is consumed in the preparation of gold-leaf, 
 and used for gilding, export, &c. The gold, as imported, is remarkably pure. Its price, in 
 1855, was nineteen times its weight of Yeutni silver. 
 
 The gold procured in the country is all supposed to pay a tax, but as no correct account is 
 taken, it is not easy to ascertain the amount. In Mr. Spears's opinion, from 80 to 100 viss 
 reach the capital yearly. This would make the total annual consumption of gold about 400 viss, 
 or about 1460 lbs. 
 
 Gold is prohibited as an article of export, excepting when manufactured into gold-leaf, 
 in which form there is a trifling but constant exportation to Rangoon, and thence to 
 Maulmain. 
 
APPENDIX. 345 
 
 Gold-leaf can be had in almost every tolerable bazaar or village in the country. Many of 
 the poorer classes buy even single leaves, which they take with them to the pagoda on their 
 moon-days, and attach either to the sacred building or to the Khyoung adjoining. A consider- 
 able amount is also used in the preparation of jewellery, &c. &c. 
 
 Silver forms the ordinary currency of Burma, it being the medium by which all trade- 
 transactions are carried on. There is no mintage and no. coin, and an assayer and refiner is 
 therefore as necessary for every transaction as are the other parties to the bargain. The silver 
 in circulation varies from pure to that which has sixty per cent of alloy. The standard 
 ordinarily adopted, and which is always understood whenever no particular kind of money is 
 mentioned in a contract, is called Yuwet-ni, and should consist of ninety silver and ten copper.* 
 A considerable quantity of silver is brought from China in the way of trade. It is imported by 
 the Shans in a very pure state, made up into small slabs or flat plates, which are from five to ten 
 tikals in weight. The silver which these men themselves use is, nevertheless, very impure, 
 containing often fully 100 per cent alloy. 
 
 Silver is procured in many places in the Shan country, and in very large quantities at a 
 place called Bau-dwen, north-east from Amarapoora, and close to the boundary of China. 
 
 From this mine alone, it is stated that about forty viss of pure silver are produced per day. 
 Lead and silver are said to be found together (a rich argentiferous galena, I suppose), yielding 
 1 1 per cent of silver. From the difficulty of carriage, the lead cannot be brought away with 
 profit, but the silver fully and amply repays the entire cost of working the mine. At these 
 mines there are stated to be 10,000 Chinese employed, the Burmans not liking the work. 
 There are said to be many other mines through the Shan country, but this at Bau-dwen is by 
 much the most extensive and productive. In fact, if the statements be even near the truth, this 
 must be one of the most extensive mines in the world. | 
 
 From these mines the King of Ava only receives forty tikals revenue per annum. 
 
 It is probable, or rather almost certain, that a large amount of the silver produced must be 
 absorbed by China, which is so near. 
 
 As to the amount of silver in circulation, it is very difficult to ascertain it with any accuracy. 
 Mr. Spears estimates it thus. "Not less than 12,000 viss of copper is obtained annually in the 
 capital by refining coarse silver alone (for the Burmans are constantly changing it from coarse 
 to fine, and fine to coarse), and supposing that silver on an average contains twenty-five per cent 
 alloy, and that one-half of the silver used as currency is annually melted down, we would have 
 18,00,000, eighteen lacs of tikals pure silver for the circulation of Amarapoora and the 
 adjoining villages. 
 
 " Silver has always been a prohibited article of export. It used formerly to be smuggled 
 away in large quantities, but now (1855), as the exchange is very high (silver being very 
 scarce here), I do not think any goes at present." 
 
 Lead. — Lead is found in several places in the Burmese territories, but is only worked to a 
 very limited extent, being chiefly brought from the Shan states. It is used in most parts of the 
 country, but especially at the capital, as small change in the bazaars, and, for this purpose, is 
 exposed for sale in every market-place in lumps of various size and value. All over the country, 
 also, it is employed in refining silver, and in making musket bullets. 
 
 * For the assay value of this and other sorts of Burman silver, as determined in the Calcutta Mint in 1826-7, 6ee 
 Prinsep's Useful Tallies, Part i. p. 50. — W. 
 
 f At the largest mine in Cornwall, there are not more than 2500 persons employed, including agents, clerks, 
 &c. &(\ 
 
 T T 
 
346 APPENDIX. 
 
 Previously to the last war, it was not allowed to be exported, and the price then was five 
 tikals per hundred viss, a price little more than sufficient to pay the carriage from the mines. 
 " The price now (1855) is eight tikals, for lead to be used in the capital or neighbourhood, but, 
 if required for exportation, it can only be purchased from the King, who has monopolised the 
 trade, and at the rate of twenty tikals Yuwet-ni silver. At the beginning of the year, this lead 
 sold at Calcutta for six rupees per bazaar maund (or eighty-two lbs.), but the price of lead having 
 advanced, it now sells for eight rupees. Since the opening of the trade, nearly two years now, 
 about 1,000,000 viss have been exported, and if it were not for the high price charged by 
 the King, ten times that amount would be sent away. As it is, the trade will, at least, 
 double next year." 
 
 Specimens of lead ore (galena) were brought to Amarapoora, said to be obtained from the 
 Kuenapa-doung, not more than two days' journey from the capital. This ore was good, and 
 stated to occur in quantity, but contained only a trace of silver. More recently Mr. Spears has 
 forwarded to Major Phayre specimens from another locality, said to be more than three days' 
 journey from Amarapoora, which, on examination, proved to be rich in silver, yielding not less 
 than 1-4 lb. per ton, to 12 cwt. 3 qr. of lead. This is a large percentage, and would render 
 the ore a very valuable one.* It is not improbable that a more enlightened policy will enable 
 the trade in lead to be very largely extended. " For refining purposes, at the capital 
 alone, I do not think less than 20,000 viss of lead are used per annum, half of which 
 may be lost." 
 
 Through the kindness of Major Phayre, I have obtained a return of the quantity of lead 
 exported from Rangoon during the last two official years. In 1854-55, the quantity was 
 558,885.25 viss, representing a value of 166,382 Rs., 15 as. 1£ p. In 1855-56, the quantity 
 was 428,658.80 viss, representing a value of 115,130 Rs., 13 as. 6 p. 
 
 Tin. — Tin is imported from China and from the straits, via Rangoon. Of the total amount 
 used, China supplies about one-third. But this tin is inferior to that brought from the straits, 
 not working so well. It is principally used as alloy for copper, in the manufacture of brass, for 
 bell-metal, &c, &c, occasionally also for covering roofs. Thus the Palace roof is plated 
 with tin, and some of the Kyoungs in the capital. Price at Amarapoora, about eighty tikals 
 per 100 viss. 
 
 The amount of tin exported from Rangoon in 1855-56, was 437 viss, the value 546 Rs. 4 as. 
 None was imported by Rangoon. 
 
 Zinc. — The chief supply of zinc is derived from Europe by way of Rangoon ; small 
 quantities, also, are brought from China in the form of small cups, the European zinc coming 
 in slabs. 
 
 It is used in the manufacture of bell-metal, brass wire, &c. &c. 
 
 The price at the capital ranges from 70 to 90 tikals per 100 viss. 
 
 Copper. — Of this valuable metal there are annually imported to Amarapoora about 35,000 
 viss. At present the only supply is derived from China. The ore is said to be abundant in the 
 Shan states, though not worked. Copper is used for alloying silver, making weights, &c. &c. 
 It comes in the form of copper vessels broken up, and in some cases in a rough smelted state. 
 
 " I have known it to be cast into cannon, but the expenditure in this way is very small." 
 Rich veins are said to occur about eighty miles from the capital. 
 
 Of copper, 15,119 viss were exported from Rangoon in the official year 1855-56. (Returns 
 kindly furnished by Major Phayre.) 
 
 Iron. — The principal site of the manufacture of iron in Burma is at Poukpa, a lofty 
 
 * This is equivalent to lead, 63.900; silver, 0.0625 per cent. 
 
APPENDIX. 347 
 
 mountain about fifteen miles east of Pagan, and at Maedoo, a good distance north of Shue- 
 bo-myo. 
 
 A small quantity is brought from the Shan states, and about one-third of the amount used in 
 the capital is brought from seaward. In the country districts, however, but very little foreign 
 iron is used. The iron from Poukpa, though not considered the best, is that which is most 
 generally used, owing to the greater facility which exists for its transit by water-carriage. It is 
 generally brought to market in lumps weighing from 10 to 15 viss. 
 
 This coarse, or, as it would be called in India, cutcha iron, sells for 8 to 10 tikals per 100 
 viss, depending on its purity, the coarser and more common varieties losing as much as 40 per 
 cent during the process of conversion, the finer qualities about 25 per cent. 
 
 " Taking the iron consumed in all Burma into account, I do not think that more than 5 per 
 cent of it comes from seaward, the remainder (95 per cent) being all the produce of the country; 
 dhas (swords), knives, and all agricultural implements being made from the latter kind. Indeed, 
 all the important iron is used at the capital, or at a few large villages by the river's side." 
 
 " The present market-price of imported iron is 30 tikals for 100 viss, of native iron 30 to 60, 
 according to quality." 
 
 In reducing the native iron, charcoal is the fuel invariably used. All the steel required is 
 imported from seaward or from China, as the Burmese do not understand its manufacture. 
 
 " The sulphur used in the country is all imported, and, being a prohibited article of trade, is 
 smuggled, and in considerable quantities. The present price (1855) maybe given at about 150 
 tikals per 100 viss. Before the late war, it was only forty." Specimens of rock, from which it 
 was stated that sulphur was extracted, were brought to me at Amarapoora, and specimens of the 
 sulphur said to have been extracted from it. The latter was unquestionably not of native 
 manufacture, although the ore (iron pyrites) would yield sulphur, if properly treated. The 
 extraction of sulphur from this ore is, however, a process only adopted in Europe within a few 
 years, and, if known to the Shans, can, I fancy, be carried on only in the very rudest way, and 
 with considerable loss in the results. 
 
 Sulphur forms a strong efflorescence on the surface, and in the little cracks of many of the beds 
 of rock associated with the petroleum, and from these a small quantity might be obtained. 
 
 The "Ruby-mines" of Burma* have been long known, although the jealousy of the native 
 Government has prevented their being visited by many Europeans. 
 
 They are situated north-east from the capital, and distant about sixty to seventy miles. 
 
 The principal road to them leaves the river Irawadi at Tsinguh-myo, and passes through 
 Shuemale. There are other roads, from Tsampaynago and other villages, to the north. The 
 mines lie nearly due east from the village, being separated from the valley of the Irawadi 
 by the lofty range of the Shuedoung mountains. The villages in the immediate neighbourhood 
 of the mines are Kyatpen, Mogouk, and Katheyuwa. The precise limits within which the gems 
 are found are unknown, but they are, or have been, procured over an area of probably 100 square 
 miles. 
 
 The mode of seeking for them is simply sinking pits until the gem-bed or ruby earth is met 
 with. This is then raised to the surface, and washed. This gem-bed is met with at very 
 various depths, sometimes not more than two or three feet from the surface, at other times more 
 than forty feet, and occasionally not at all. When the layer of earthy sand containing the rubies 
 is met, lateral shafts are driven in on it, and the bed followed up, until it either becomes 
 
 * Notice of these mines, translated from the original account (by Pere Giuseppe D'Amato, an Italian Jesuit 
 Missionary to Burma), was given in the Journal of the Asiatic Society of Bengal, vol. ii. p. 75 (1833). 
 
 The place is said to be surrounded by nine mountains, the ground uneven and full of marshes, which form 
 seventeen small lakes. 
 
348 APPENDIX. 
 
 necessary to sink another pit on it, or it becomes exhausted. It varies in thickness from a few 
 inches to two or three feet. 
 
 The rubies are, for the most part, small, not averaging more than a quarter of a rutty, and, 
 when large, are generally full of flaws. Well-marked Tystals occasionally occur, but the vast 
 majority of the stones are well rounded and ground down. It is a very rare case to find a large 
 ruby without flaws ; and Mr. Spears states that he has never seen a perfect ruby weighing more 
 than half a rupee. 
 
 The sapphires are found in the same earth with the rubies, but are much more rare, and 
 generally found of a larger size. " Stones of ten to fifteen rutties without a flaw are common, 
 whereas a perfect ruby of that size is hardly ever seen. The largest perfect sapphire I ever saw 
 weighed one tikal. It was polished ; but I have seen a rough one weighing twenty-five tikals." 
 " For every five hundred rubies, I do not think they get one sapphire." You see very few small 
 sapphires in the market, while small rubies are abundant and cheap. 
 
 The value of the gems, rubies, and sapphires obtained in a year may be from one-and-a- 
 quarter to one-and-a-half lac, from 12,500/. to 15,000/. They are considered solely the property 
 of the King, and strictly monopolised, but, notwithstanding the care that is taken, considerable 
 quantities are smuggled. 
 
 There are about twenty lapidaries or polishers of these stones in Amarapoora. They are not 
 allowed to carry on their trade at the mines. For polishing, " small rubies and worthless pebbles, 
 brought from the mines, pounded fine, and mixed up with an adhesive substance, and then made 
 into cakes, some ten inches long by four broad, are used to rub down the gem on. After it 
 has been brought to the form and size required, another stone of finer grain is used. The last 
 process is performed by rubbing the ruby on a plate of copper or brass, until it is thoroughly 
 polished, when the gem is ready for the market." 
 
 From the above statements, it will be seen that there is a large trade carried on in metals, &c, 
 principally with China and the Shan states. With the former, this traffic is conducted almost 
 entirely on mules ; with the latter, on bullocks. 
 
 The roads are of the most primitive kind, and the restrictions of various kinds oppressive and 
 strict ; and there can be little doubt that these branches of trade would receive a great impulse 
 from more liberal arrangements. 
 
 Judging from their peculiar geological relations and structure, I believe that the hills to the 
 east of the capital, and stretching away thence north and south, will in all probability be found 
 rich in mineral and metallic wealth. To establish this and investigate it fully would, of course, 
 require a much more detailed examination than either our time or opportunities admitted of ; 
 but even without this, there is a high probability, and the conditions are favourable, for such 
 deposits. 
 
 Several specimens of metallic ores, lead, copper, &c, were brought in while the Mission 
 remained at Amarapoora, but, of course, no opinion could be formed of the quantity or abundance 
 in which they occurred. 
 
 Among others was one specimen from Ye-ta-gooung hill (Waterfall hill), which was said to 
 be four to six miles from Kue-napa : this was stated to yield three per cent of silver. It showed 
 small strings of silver and of argentiferous galena, occurring in a calcareous matrix, with minute 
 threads of quartz. Whether this specimen was procured from one of the same places that are 
 referred to above I cannot say, but it is very probable. 
 
APPENDIX. 349 
 
 Note upon Earthquakes in Burma. 
 
 The Burman Empire has frequently been visited by severe earthquake-shocks. To this day 
 many, though seldom serious, shocks occur during the year. While the Mission remained at 
 Amarapoora, two slight shocks occurred, on the 18th day of September, and on the 5th day 
 of October ; the latter of these was scarcely felt. But the evidences of former shocks, destruc- 
 tive to houses, Pagodas, and Kyoungs, meet the eye on every side. Huge masses of masonry 
 overthrown, — buildings rent from top to bottom, — others half upset, and looking as if the next 
 slight vibration would bring them down, are scattered in numbers over the hills of Tsagaing, in 
 the now deserted capital of Ava, and along the river-banks to the north of Amarapoora. 
 
 The majority of these ruined appearances are the result of the severest earthquake on record 
 in the country, and to the effects of which most of this destruction is due. It occurred on the 
 morning of the 23rd March, 1839, at about 4 o'clock a.m. The shock was felt throughout the 
 whole Burman Empire, from Bamo, on the northern frontier, to Rangoon ; but of very varying 
 force, and with varying destructive effects.* Mr. Spears, who was in Amarapoora at the time, 
 has, in reply to some queries, kindly favoured me with the following description : — 
 
 " On Saturday morning, 23rd March, 1839, at about 4 o'clock a.m., Amarapoora was visited 
 by an earthquake, that surprised the oldest inhabitants by its strength — Burman history men- 
 tions nothing of the kind having taken place before. I was in bed and asleep at the time, but 
 was soon awoke by a tremendous roar, and the tiles from the roof of the house coming down 
 about my ears ; the motion so great that I had some difficulty in finding the door, but whether 
 vertical or horizontal, I had not presence of mind sufficient to judge at the time. I did not even 
 know it was an earthquake until it was finished. The shock may have taken up about thirty 
 seconds in all. 
 
 " When I did get into the open air, I found the heavens without a cloud, and although there 
 was not a breath of wind, the trees shook as if it were blowing a gale. The dust rising all round 
 from the destroyed houses gave the sky a peculiar appearance, not easily to be forgotten. 
 
 " From the appearance the ruins presented in the morning, I have little doubt the motion was 
 from north to south. The river did rise a little, as if its bed had been obstructed, but did no 
 damage to the boats, even to those that were deeply laden. I never heard of a wave, but the 
 banks of the river, between Amarapoora and Ava, were rent in many places, presenting chasms 
 of from five to twenty feet in width, from which large quantities of water, and sand of a blackish 
 appearance, had been ejected. The earthquake was not accompanied by any perceptible smell. 
 
 " Judging from the appearance the city walls of Amarapoora and Ava presented the next 
 morning after the great shock, I am decidedly of opinion that it must have been felt stronger in 
 the latter than in the former city. 
 
 " At Tsagaing, I would not say that it was stronger than at Ava, either on the hill-tops or 
 on the river-side. My reason for supposing this is, that the Pagodas on both sides of the river 
 presented the same appearance : that is, they were all deprived of their ' htees,' and the same 
 quantity of brickwork from the top. 
 
 " This earthquake was felt at Bamo and Rangoon ; in fact, all over the Burman territory. 
 In Rangoon, the time observed was very nearly the same as here ; it did no damage, but was 
 strong enough to ring pagoda and some house-bells, and alarm the inhabitants. 
 
 " From all I have been able to learn, I think Ava must have been about the centre. 
 
 " After the great quake, we had strong shocks all day, every five or twenty minutes, but 
 
 * It was felt distinctly by Dr. Richardson, then travelling in Siam, three days north of Bangkok.— Jour. As. 
 Soc. Ben. vol. ix.—H. Y. 
 
350 APPENDIX. 
 
 none coming up to the first in violence. They were, almost invariably, preceded a second or 
 two by a sound resembling a cannon fired at a distance ; or, at other times, as if a number of 
 carriages were passing over a rough bridge under ground. There were two distinct kinds of 
 earthquakes : that preceded by the cannon-like sound had little or no rolling motion, but more 
 resembled some one thumping up from below, as it were ; it made the houses ' dirrl,' and set 
 the slates and glasses a-dancing. The other came like the wave of the sea, with a motion 
 generally from east to west ; at least, that was my impression at the time. 
 
 " The under-ground sounds seemed to come always from the eastwards. 
 
 " For four or five days we had nothing but earthquakes, every fifteen to thirty minutes ; 
 and for six months after, scarcely a day passed without one. In fact, it is only the last three 
 years that we have been tolerably free from them. 
 
 " The impression left on the people was, that it was very unsafe to live in brick buildings, 
 unless a wooden framework is put up inside of them, which is always done now by any Burman 
 wishing to have a pucka house. 
 
 " There never was a correct list of the number of people killed ; but there must have been 
 from three to four hundred. Ava suffered most, from having some brick Kyoungs, where a 
 great number of Poongyis were destroyed." — Amarapoora, 24th Sept. 1855. 
 
 In a MS. Journal of Captain McLeod, in the Foreign Office, Calcutta, there is a brief and 
 very uncircumstantial notice of the same earthquake. 
 
 " 1839, March 23rd. — At about half-past one this morning, we were suddenly roused from 
 our sleep by two terrible shocks of an earthquake. Though numerous concussions continued 
 to take place, none were so severe as the two first. In the morning, not a Pagoda was 
 to be seen standing whole. Every brick building in the town had either been thrown down, 
 burying in their ruins numbers of people, or so rent and damaged as to render their being 
 taken down necessary. 
 
 " The Pagodas crowning the height of Tsagaing shared the fate of those at Amarapoora. 
 In the neighbourhood of the Residency extensive and deep fissures had spread out, from which 
 large quantities of water had been discharged, and the earth in many places hove up with water 
 springing up from the centre. The wells were all choked up and dry." — MS. Journal of Capt. 
 McLeod, for 1839. 
 
 Again he notices a shock of earthquake which occurred on March 25th, during his visit to 
 the King. 
 
 He states that the King of Burma informed him that their religious treatises told him that 
 earthquakes occurred every twenty or thirty years, and were severer on the sea-coast than inland. 
 The Burmese attributed earthquakes to the movement of some animal in the earth, but that 
 foreigners maintained that they proceeded from the sudden union of certain matters in the 
 bowels of the earth, and as a proof of this hypothesis, that they buried certain preparations in 
 the earth, which after a few days would cause the same sensation as an earthquake, and throw 
 open the earth, &c. That during earthquakes eyesight grew dim, and an oppression in the 
 chest was also felt. 
 
 I do not find further notices of any earthquakes in Burma, although, probably, the form in 
 which phenomena attending the death of kings are stated by Padre San Germano to be recorded 
 in the Royal Chronicle, may be taken as proof of their not unfrequent occurrence.* 
 
 The large lake called Endau-gyi, west of Mogoung, is said to cover the site of a large Shan 
 town, called Tumansye. The natives affirm that it was destroyed by an earthquake.f 
 
 * "When there is an earthquake in Pegu," Valentyn says, " they think that the King will die, or will lose his 
 throne, or will oppress them, or that there will be a famine, or something else." — Y. 
 t Journal Asiatic Society Bengal, vol. vi. p. 274. 
 
Plate XXIX 
 
 x J(UrJ>*7'u 
 
 MULE/ frsAMPENACO 
 
 SdyMmu said tck-Suztr.cn Mitts 
 EiUi th m the- rajiqe 
 
 4IMUMAU 
 
 \ 
 
 d ' tcRiiby- Mines 
 vfi this 
 
 \ 
 
 j 
 
 Al'pnxitiutti' positirn 
 
 ■oat isimlio 
 
 CEOLOCICAL COLOURS AND SICNS 
 
 a 
 
 \-^.:.\ 
 
 
 1 ! 
 
 fm 
 
 
 
 ! 
 
 HKCfHT 
 
 :■ 1 
 
 
 
 IKS'*: 
 
 ^ PLAN 
 
 HIE^fADEl 3BJH 
 
 from 
 
 AMARAPURA 
 ba 
 
 TSAMPENACO 
 
 /•(/// a furlwil rl Ilu 
 
 MYIT-NGE 
 
 nam Surveys by 
 t T OLD HA. VI ESQ"? 
 
 
 LEHYA TOUNG 
 
 /■„./„// 
 
 VOLCANIC 
 
 
 
 '<.. 
 
 ;ff 
 
 f | 
 
 Scale 8 British Miles -I Inch . 
 
 0)234 S 
 
 i . i . I I ' 
 
 16 Miles 
 
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 Ueu&Stm ■ u .'■-.: w 
 
APPENDIX. 351 
 
 Col. Burney (MS. Journal), on 24th April, 1830, then just arrived at Ava, records distinct 
 and severe shocks of earthquake. " The last earthquake occurred about two years ago." And in 
 visiting Mengoon Pagoda in the following year, 1831, he mentions that the building was then 
 cracked on every side, and that this was said to have been occasioned by an earthquake fifteen 
 years before, or in 1816. 
 
 Of these and many other earthquakes, there are now unfortunately no records to be found. 
 But in future years, it is much to be desired that careful notice of such phenomena should be 
 preserved. It is highly probable that the basin of the Upper Irawadi will then be found to be 
 connected, and to form one great area of disturbance, with the Upper Assam valley, where 
 earthquake shocks are by no means unfrequent. 
 
 Appendix B. 
 
 From Appendix B. to the MS. Journal of Major H. Burney, Resident at Ava, accompanying 
 a Letter dated 11th September, 1830, in the Foreign Office, Calcutta. 
 
 This translation was made and transmitted to Government by Colonel Burney, because it 
 was one of the evidences relied on by the Burmese ministers, as proving their title to the district 
 of Thoung-thwot (commonly called in our maps the Kubo valley), which, by the boundary 
 originally laid down after the peace of Yandabo, had been assigned to Munnipoor. 
 
 " Extract from an inscription on stone to be seen at the great Pagoda of Koung Mhoo-dau, 
 or Yaza ma-netsoola, near Ava ; which building is described as having been commenced in the 
 year* 998, during the reign of Kuig Tha-lwon Men-tara-gyi, and finished in the year 1012, f 
 during the reign of his son, Nga-dat-dayaka, who is said to have placed the inscription. 
 
 " (After many religious sentences from Pali books, the following division of the empire of 
 Ava into kingdoms is mentioned.) 
 
 " ' All comprised within the great districts or countries of Tsa-koo, Tsalen, Lay -gain, 
 Phounglen, Kale, and Thoung-thwot, is constituted the kingdom of Thuna-paranta.J All within 
 the great districts of Pagan. Ava, Penya, and Myen-zain, is constituted the kingdom of Tampa- 
 dewa.§ All within the great districts of Thee-bho, Nyoung-shwe, and Mone, is constituted the 
 kingdom of Kambau-za.|| All within the great districts of Bhan and Khwe-loun is the kingdom 
 of Zeiu.j| All within the great districts of Tha-re-khettara,1[ Oodetayeet, and Padoung, is the 
 kingdom of Theeri-khettara-ma. All within the great districts of Ketoo-matee, Zeya-wa-dee, is 
 
 *"A.D. 1636." t"A.D. 1650." 
 
 t " Symes's Sonahparindo. See his translation of the letter from the King of Ava, p. 487, 4to. edition. [Suna- 
 paranta is mentioned as the country of two merchants, who figure in one of the legends of Gautama. (Hardy's 
 Manual of Bud. p. 259.) Its etymology suggests relation to, perhaps identity with, the Aurea Regio of Ptolemy. 
 In relation to this and to the Mareura metropolis, which Ptolemy also mentions in that region, it is rather remarkable 
 that the classic name of Kal6 and Thoung-thwot among the Burmese, is Maureeya (McLeod's MS. Journal), a name 
 also applied to Mweyen on the Irawadi."] 
 
 § " Symes's Tomba-deva. The ministers told me that by Thunaparanta they mean all countries to the north- 
 ward of Ava, and by Tampa-dewa all to the southward. 
 
 " But this inscription shows that the ministers themselves do not exactly understand what countries are comprised 
 within Thunaparanta and Tampa-dewa." 
 
 || " This is not our Cambodia, as Dalrymple, in his Oriental Repertory, vol. x. p. 107, supposed. Zein is probably 
 Symes's Zaniengnia." ^["Prome." 
 
352 
 
 APPENDIX. 
 
 the kingdom of Zeya-wadana.* All within the great districts of Henthawadee,-|- Digoun,} 
 Dala, Kothein,§ Young-mya, and Mouttama,|| is the kingdom of Yamaniya. All within the 
 great district of Kiyain-toun is the kingdom of Khemawara.^T All within the great districts 
 of Zen-may and Kyainthee is the kingdom of Harimouza-myo.** All within the great district 
 of Kyain-youn and Main-zeen is the kingdom of Maha-na-gara.ff These great kingdoms and 
 countries, and the great districts of Mayee and Ma-dait, in Tha-mooddara (the sea),' " &c. 
 
 Appendix C. 
 
 Translation of the Burmese Hymn chanted by the Brahmins. 
 
 I. May the dangers and enmity which arise from the ten points be calmed and subdued, may 
 the affliction of disease never attach itself (to thee), and in accordance with the blessings 
 declared in the sacred Pali, mayest (thou) be continually victorious. May (thy) life be prolonged 
 for more than a hundred years, and may (thy) glory continue till the end of the world ; mayest 
 thou enjoy whatever is propitious, and may all evil be far (from thee) O King ! 
 
 II. Thy glorious reputation diffuses itself like the scent of the sandal-wood, and exceeds the 
 refulgence of the moon ! Lord of the celestial elephant ! of the excellent white elephant ! 
 Master of the celestial weapon ! Lord of life, and great chief of righteousness ! Lineal de- 
 scendant of Mahatha-mada and Mahadha-mayadza, like unto the kings of the universe who 
 governed the four great islands of the solar system, and were versed in charms and spells of 
 fourteen descriptions, may (thy) glory be prolonged, and (thy) life be extended to more than a 
 hundred years ! mayest (thou) enjoy whatever is propitious, and may all evil be far (from thee), 
 King ! 
 
 III. Great chief of righteousness, whose fame spread like the fragrance of sandal-wood, and 
 exceeds the glorious light of the moon, in whom is concentrated all glory and honour, who with 
 her Majesty the Queen, the lineal descendant of anointed kings, happily governest all ; may 
 (thy) rule extend not only to the great southern island (the earth), which is tens of thousands of 
 miles in extent, but to all the four grand aud five hundred smaller islands ;. may it equal the 
 stability of the mountains Yoo-gan-toh4J Myen-mo,§§ and Hai-magaree,|||| and until the end of 
 the world mayest thou and thy descendants continue in unbroken line unto the royal son and royal 
 great grandson, that (thy) glory may endure for countless ages ; and may (thy) royal life be 
 prolonged for more than a hundred years, O King ! 
 
 IV. May our King be continually yictorious ! When the divine Buddha ascended the golden 
 throne, all created beings inhabiting millions of worlds became his subjects, and he overcame 
 all enemies; so may kings by hundreds and thousands, and tens of thousands, come with offerings 
 of celestial weapons, white elephants, flying horses, virgins, and precious stones of divers sorts, 
 and do homage to the golden feet, which resemble the germs of the lotus, O King ! — (Major 
 Phayre.) 
 
 * " Symes's Seawuttena." f "Pegu." 
 
 J "Rangoon." § [Or, Pothein : the letter in Burney's MS. is doubtful.] " Bassein." 
 
 || " Martaban." ^ " Said to be the same as Hamarotha, or Symes's Hamaratta." 
 
 ** " Symes's Hurry mounza." ff " The same as Sym«s's D'Zodinagara." 
 
 J{ Yugandhara ; the highest of the seven ridges encircling Maha Meru. — Y. 
 
 §§ MahaMeru.— Y. s |||| The Himalaya, probably.— Y. 
 
APPENDIX. 353 
 
 Appendix D. 
 
 Letter from the Governor-General to the King of Ava. 
 
 {After titles and cotnpliments.) 
 
 The Governor-General informs His Majesty, the King of Ava, that, in pursuance of the 
 intentions expressed in the letter which the Governor-General had the honour of addressing to 
 His Majesty on the 23d December, 1854, he has appointed Major Arthur Purves Phayre, 
 commissioner of Pegu and agent to the Governor-General, to be an Envoy to the Court of His 
 Majesty the King. 
 
 The Envoy is charged to deliver this friendly letter to the King ; and to convey to His 
 Majesty divers articles, the products of various countries of Europe and of the East, in token of 
 those feelings of friendship and good will which the British Government entertains towards the 
 King, and which it desires to retain towards His Majesty and his successors in all time to come. 
 
 His Majesty will learn fully from the Envoy how great was the satisfaction with which the 
 Governor-General received the Embassy, which His Majesty deputed to Calcutta a few months 
 ago ; and His Majesty will recognise in the prompt appointment of the present mission an 
 additional proof of the sincerity with which the Governor-General desires to cultivate relations 
 of peace between the two great states, and to increase and extend the intercourse which tends so 
 much to the mutual interest and advantage of both. 
 
 His Majesty has shown, since his accession to the throne of Ava, so earnest and sincere a 
 desire for lasting concord between the states ; His Majesty has at all times exhibited so worthy 
 a resolution to do justice to all men, and in the whole policy of his happy reign His Majesty has 
 so established the reputation of his wisdom and of his determination to cultivate those pursuits 
 which lead to peace and to the prosperity and happiness of his subjects ; that the Governor- 
 General entertains a confident expectation that the visit of a representative of the British 
 Government to His Majesty's Court will materially tend to confirm the friendly alliance which 
 is desired by the rulers of the two great states ; to remove all causes of possible dissension 
 between them, and to encourage and enlarge the commerce, which must be equally beneficial 
 to both. 
 
 The Envoy is an officer of high rank and reputation. He enjoys the entire confidence of 
 the Government of India. 
 
 The Governor-General, therefore, invites His Majesty, with renewed assurances of respect 
 and esteem, to listen to the Envoy's words, and to place full reliance on the sentiments which he 
 will express. 
 
 * . Dalhoxjsie. 
 
 Sd July, 1855. 
 
 z z 
 
354 
 
 APPENDIX. 
 
 Appendix E. 
 
 The King's Letter to the Governor- General. 
 
 His great, glorious, and most excellent Majesty, who reigns over the kingdoms of Thuna- 
 paranta, Tampadeepa, and all the great umbrella-wearing chiefs of the Eastern countries, the 
 King of the rising sun, Lord of the celestial Elephants, and master of many white Elephants, 
 and great chief of righteousness, informs the English ruler who governs India and all the great 
 countries to the westward, — 
 
 That, in accordance with the existing great friendship, the English ruler having deputed his 
 minister and Commissioner, Major Arthur Purves Phayre, with a Royal letter and presents, the 
 Royal war and accommodation-boats, with the officers of state, have been sent down to meet and 
 escort him ; and on his arrival at the Royal city in the year 1217, fifth day of the waning moon 
 Wagoung (1st September, 1855), agreeably to the great friendship existing between both states, 
 he was requested to reside in the house built for his accommodation, and supplied with every- 
 thing that was requisite. The Royal letter and presents have been received in a proper and 
 suitable manner; and in the year 1217, twelfth day of the increasing moon Tha-den Ky-wot 
 (22d October, 1855), (this) Royal letter was delivered to the Envoy and Commissioner Major 
 Arthur Purves Phayre ; and that there should be no obstruction during his journey, officers have 
 been appointed to escort him to the frontier district of Maloon, of which information is now 
 given. 
 
 Appendix F. 
 
 On the Plan of Burmese Monasteries. 
 
 I observe that Mr. Fergusson, in his admirable " Handbook of Architecture," expresses regret 
 at the want of information respecting the arrangement of the kyoungs, or monasteries, of Burma, 
 as bearing on the form of such buildings in ancient Buddhist India. Had I seen this before our 
 
 
 1 H 
 
 is i 
 
 7 | 
 
 1* 
 
 
 
 X 
 
 
 
 
 2 
 
 
 
 
 
 ,- , 
 
 
 
 
 2» 
 
 •c 
 
 
 9 
 
 
 
 1 1 -Id 
 
 1 f 
 
 u 
 
 
 Fig. 48. 
 
 Fig. 49. 
 
 journey to Amarapoora, I should have endeavoured to bring away fuller information. My own 
 visits to the interior of these buildings were, I confess, almost entirely barred by strong disin- 
 
APPENDIX. 355 
 
 clination to undergo what was supposed to be the necessary ceremony of unshoeing. The form 
 of the kyoungs is not always the same. There is universally, I think, a rectangular timber plat- 
 form raised on massive posts to a height varying from six to fifteen feet from the ground,' and on 
 this the buildings are erected, sometimes forming three sides of a square. But by far the most 
 common arrangement is that shown in the first of the above figures ; and it is that of nine-tenths 
 of the kyoungs near Amarapoora. This plan exhibits rough measurements which I took of the 
 Maha-yet-na-boung-dau, the largest monastic building at the capital. The parts of which the 
 measurements are not marked are drawn in from recollection, but there can be no essential 
 error. A is a timber chapel with a lofty spire, or pyasath, of seven or eight stories, covering a 
 large figure of Gautama, and is the most highly-decorated part of the monastery : almost uni- 
 versally, at the capital at least, it occupies the east end of the structure. B is the main building, 
 occupied by the monks. It is divided transversely into two great apartments, and often contains 
 large throned images of Gautama with bibliothecs, ornamented shrines, and all sorts of quaint 
 articles presented by the devout. C is called the Anouk Tazoung, or western pavilion, and is 
 said to be devoted to the disciples and school-boys. I give all this with diffidence, having 
 failed to obtain answers to my queries from the better informed. D, D, is the spacious planked 
 platform on which the buildings are erected. E, E, are the staircases, the only pieces of brick- 
 work in the structure. 
 
 C has generally two or three tiers of roofs ; B has four or five, as described at p. 163, sup- 
 ported by the central row of posts, which run up from the ground, in the instance of the building 
 delineated above, to a height of nearly eighty feet. The number of the noble pillars supporting 
 this building was, as mentioned before, 404. 
 
 Sometimes there are three pyasaths, or spires, abreast at the eastern extremity. The 
 second figure given above is from a Burmese drawing. It differs greatly from that which I 
 have observed to be most common at Amarapoora. In it, most probably, No. 1 corresponds 
 to B in my drawing, No. 2 to C, and No. 3 to A. The following are the references which 
 accompanied the drawing when sent me by Major Phayre. 
 
 1. Chief room. In this the second personage of the Kyoung generally resides, with the 
 superior students. 
 
 2. The schoolroom and place where the Poongyis generally receive visitors. 
 
 3. Place where the idols are. The chief Poongyi generally sleeps in a room oif this, and 
 uses it to take exercise in ; he also generally preaches here to small congregations. 
 
 4. Long gallery for walking exercise. 
 
 5. Reading-room. 
 
 6. A spire sometimes built at the side of the entrance. 
 
 7. Eating-house for the probationers and scholars. 
 
 8. Cooking-house. 
 
 9. Outside raised open veranda called " Elephant's Approach." It is meant that a man of 
 rank comes on his elephant thus far ; but such an act would never be allowed nowadays. A 
 man of the highest rank would dismount outside the fence, and come up to the kyoung bare- 
 footed. 
 
 10. 11, 12, 13. Ladders of entrance. 
 
 14. Bathing-house. 
 
 15. Do. for scholars and probationers. 
 
356 APPENDIX. 
 
 Appendix G. 
 
 On the Sources of the Irawadi. 
 
 The sources and upper course of the Irawadi are still, I believe, a vexed question among 
 geographers. We have no new light to throw on the controversy, but it is worth while to 
 collect the facts. 
 
 A century ago D'Anville asserted his conviction that the great river of Ava was 
 identical with the Tsanpoo, which the maps sent from China by the Jesuits had lately made 
 known as traversing Tibet from west to east.* Dalrymple, the compiler of the Oriental 
 Repertory, and a very able geographer, who put together on a small scale Buchanan's geo- 
 graphical collections for the narrative of Symes's Mission, indicated the same idea on his map. 
 On the other hand, the great proto-geographer of British India, whom our corps of Bengal 
 Engineers should be proud to reckon as one of its earliest members, identified the Tsanpoo with 
 the great river of Assam, the Burrampooter.f 
 
 In 1825, and some years later in a memoir on the sources of the Brahmaputra and the 
 Irawadi,| M. Klaproth revived the doctrine of DAnville and Dalrymple, supporting it by 
 citations from Chinese authors and state documents, as well as by arguments from physical 
 geography. His definite position was that the Tsanpoo passed through the west of Yunan, and, 
 under the Chinese name of Pinlang Kiang, entered the Burmese territories at Bamo, and there, 
 joining another considerable river coming from the north, formed the river which flows by Ava 
 as the Irawadi. § 
 
 That the exact position taken up by Klaproth was quite untenable, there was fact enough in 
 print to prove. Buchanan had ascertained, and recorded from the information of the Tsaubwa 
 of Bamo, that the Irawadi in no part of its course entered Yunan, and that the river of Bamo 
 was a small stream called, both in Burmese and Chinese, by epithets nearly corresponding to the 
 Indian nullah\ If any doubt on the latter point remained, it must have been dispelled by the 
 personal observation of Capt. Hannay in 1835-36, and of Drs. Griffith and Bayfield in the 
 following year.^f 
 
 A gallant attempt to solve the problem was made in 1827, by Lieutenants Wilcox and 
 Burlton, who accomplished an arduous journey across the mountains between the sources of the 
 Dihing and the valley of the Irawadi (12,474 feet high at one point of the route). The latter 
 river, at the point where those officers stood on its banks, a few miles north of Moongkhamti, and 
 in lat. 27° 26', was about eighty yards broad, and though considerably swollen by melting 
 snows, was still fordable, and traversed by numerous shallow rapids. The sources of the river 
 
 * Eclaircissemens Geographiques sur la Carte de I'lnde. Paris, 1753, p. 146. 
 
 t Rennell's Memoir of a Map of Hindooslan, p. 298. A conjecture to the same effect occurs in the memoir on 
 the map of Tibet by the Pere Regis, at the end of Duhalde's China. 
 
 % About 1829. The copy in the Asiatic Society's Library is an excerpt from some periodical, and has no date. 
 
 § Pemberton (p. 175) seems to be mistaken in supposing that Klaproth had retracted his theory in liis Descrip- 
 tion du Tubet. He there re-asserts it. (See D. du T. p. 116, note.) 
 
 || Account of a Map of the Route between Tartary and Amarapoora, &c. By Francis (Buchanan) Hamilton, 
 M.D. Edin. Philos. Journal, vol. iii. 1820, pp. 35, 36. 
 
 1[ Hannay's MS. Journal ; and abstract thereof in Jour. As. Soc. Ben. vi. 258 ; MS. Journal of Dr. Bayfield in 
 Surveyor-General's Office ; Griffith's Posthumous Papers, p. 138. 
 
APPENDIX. 357 
 
 could not be distant, and their position was pointed out in a towering wall of snow-capt moun- 
 tains, stretching from west to east transverse to the valley. 
 
 In the disquisition which Wilcox has appended to his narrative, he has, I think, all 
 but absolutely demonstrated, both that the Tsanpoo is the Burrampooter (or rather the 
 Dihong, for the sacred branch called Brahmaputra is a much smaller river), and that the 
 Irawadi is not the Tsanpoo.* 
 
 But though his researches foreclosed the problem in this direction they rather tended to open 
 it in another. For he also learned from the Singphos that the Irawadi which flows down into 
 Burma, is formed by the junction of another large branch from the eastward with that which he 
 had visited among the Khamtis. This junction he placed in lat. 25° 3', but it was afterwards 
 ascertained by Capt. Hannay to be probably near 26°. 
 
 Now it appears an obvious suggestion that this eastern Irawadi, called by the Singphos the 
 Shumiie Kha, or Sgin-miie Kha, which has never been seen by European eye, may be much 
 larger, and of vastly remoter source, than the river- seen by Wilcox. This supposition, however, 
 Wilcox himself felt constrained to reject. The Singphos agreed in describing this eastern river, 
 which they were familiar with, sometimes as not larger, sometimes as not materially larger, than 
 the Khamti river ; and they were of opinion that the Shumiie Kha rose in the northern moun- 
 tains, i. e. in the mountains above-mentioned north of Khamti, and a few days' journey only east 
 of the known river. It was also a fact to be noted, that the Shans give the name of Namkiu to 
 the river of Khamti and to the Irawadi throughout its course. J Wilcox, therefore, enters int© 
 an elaborate argument from the analogies of Assam, to show that it is quite probable that a river 
 in that region, having no greater area of drainage than the Irawadi with the sources which he 
 ascribed to it possesses, should exhibit as great a body of water as that river was described to 
 exhibit at Amarapoora and at Prome. 
 
 The little evidence since collected cuts both ways. 
 
 On his way to Mogoung, Capt. Hannay learned from some Shan soldiers the important fact 
 that the western branch was called by the Burmese Myit-gyi, or great river, the eastern, or 
 unvisited branch, the Myit-ngl, or little river. They told him also that this Myit-ngi, called by 
 the Shans Nam Boun, and by the Kakhyens or Singphos Zin-miie Kha or Sgin-mae Kha, rose 
 in the same range of hills with the other branch, but eight days' journey to the east of Khamti. 
 Some eastern Singphos, whom he met at the Amber-mines, confirmed this statement, telling him 
 that the Sgin-miie rose in the mountains bounding Khamti to the north, and that to the east of 
 it there was a great range of mountains trending south, called by the Singphos Goulamigong, 
 and regarded as the (nominal) boundary between the Burmese and the Chinese territories. 
 They also said that the eastern river was not navigable at all, and that the western river was 
 only traversable by rafts. 
 
 All this confirms Wilcox's views, and singularly harmonises with what he heard. 
 
 But then comes the difficulty. 
 
 Wilcox's arguments may be admitted as showing the possibility of the Irawadi's being a river 
 of the magnitude ascribed to it at Prome, where it drains thirty-one square degrees, or at 
 Amarapoora, where it drains about fourteen, and is 460 miles distant from the Khamti source ; 
 out when we ascend to the latitude of Mogoung, where, according to the Singpho evidence, it 
 
 * As. Researches, xvii. 457. Prior to this, Lieut. Wilcox, in communication with the Surveyor-General, Lieut.- 
 Col. Hodgson, had reprinted Klaproth's Memoir, and combated his theory. Oriental Quarterly, July 1826. The 
 Journal of Lieutenants Burlton and Wilcox, of their visit to the sources of the Irawadi, was published also in the same 
 for June 1827.— W. 
 
 t Too much could not be built on this, with the case of the smaller Brahmaputra swallowing up the greater Dihong 
 on the other side of the mountains. 
 
358 APPENDIX. 
 
 would drain only about five and a half degrees, and be only 200 miles distant from its source, 
 and still find it spoken of in the same sort of terms, it is not wonderful that doubts arise. 
 
 Captain Hannay thus describes his last view of the Irawadi before turning off to the north 
 westward up the river of Mogoung: — 
 
 " Before leaving the Irawadi I could not help contrasting its size with that of the Mogoung 
 river ; the mouth of the latter being hardly visible from the opposite side of the Irawadi, which 
 is still a fine river, flowing in a reach from the eastward half a mile broad. The water is now 
 very clear, and the current runs at the rate of two miles an hour. The depth varies 
 from three fathoms in the middle to two fathoms at the edge of the river, but the banks, 
 which are high and composed of alluvial soil, have every appearance of being overflowed 
 in the freshes."* 
 
 Similarly Dr. Griffith says in the report of his journey from Mogoung to Ava: — 
 
 " The Irawadi, even at the mouth of the Mogoung river, and at a distance of nearly 800 
 miles from the sea, keeps up its magnificent 'character. At this point it is 900 or 1000 yards 
 across ; when we reached it, it had risen considerably, and the appearance of this vast sheet of 
 
 water was really grand The great branch from which the Irawadi derives its vast 
 
 supplies of water still remains to be discovered, and will probably be found to be the Shoomaee 
 Kha. It is evident at any rate, that the great body of water comes from the eastward, for 
 between the Mogoung river and Bor Khamtee, in which country Captain Wilcox visited the 
 Irawadi, and where it was found to be of no great size, no considerable branch finds its way 
 from the westward : neither are the hills which intervene between these points of such height 
 as to afford large supplies of water." J 
 
 In his private journal, however, he notes the breadth of the river somewhat lower : "The 
 Irawadi opposite the entrance of the Mogoung river is 600 yards across," &c.J 
 
 Physical data touching on the probabilities of the subject are sadly deficient. We have no 
 knowledge of the rainfall in northern Burma, no sufficient measurement of the volume of the 
 river ; and the whole of the comparative data that I can find on the discharge of great rivers 
 seem to me exceedingly unreliable, with the exception of those contained in Mr. Ellet's book on 
 the Mississippi and its tributaries, in which there is little bearing on this question. § Nor have 
 we yet any data for the general slope of the Irawadi or the height of the capital above the sea, 
 for want of contemporaneous barometrical observations. 
 
 What facts have been observed, however, it may be interesting to put on record. 
 
 The flood volume is not a matter of much interest ; for it is impossible in these latitudes to 
 deduce anything as to the area of drainage from this volume. We know, for instance, that such 
 a river as the Cauvery, draining an area of only 30,000 square miles, is calculated to discharge 
 a volume of more than 300,000 cubic feet per second ; || and the Damooda, draining no more 
 than 7000 square miles, is calculated in its highest floods to bring down nearly 600,000 cubic 
 feet per second,l[ or about half the volume of the Mississippi at the full. Our visit to Amara- 
 poora was during the highest floods of the Irawadi, and we had no opportunity of seeing the 
 river in what may be called its normal state. 
 
 * MS. Journal, December 31st, 1835. 
 
 t Posthumous Papers, pp. 136, 138. J Ibid. p. 93. 
 
 § The measurement of discharges is capable of no check but that of frequent repetition, and this appears rarely 
 to have been practised. As an instance of the uncertainties of data of this kind, there are three statements, on 
 respectable authorities, of the discharge of the low-water Ganges at Benares ; one of which gives 16,000 or 17,000 
 (See As. Researches, xvii. p. 467) ; the second, 20,000 (Gleanings of Science) ; and the third, 36,000 (Id.). 
 
 |J Lieut.-Colonel Baird Smith, The Cauvery, Kistna, and Godavery, 1856, p. 7. 
 
 U_ Captain Dickens on the Damooda, in Bengal Government Selections, No. 15, p. 70. 
 
APPENDIX. 359 
 
 Lieutenant Heathcote, however, measured the discharge in the middle of October, when the 
 surface was ten and a half feet below what was stated to be the highest level, and nearly thirty 
 feet above the lowest.* The section was taken between the Shwe-kyet-yet and the foot of the 
 Sagain hills, where the river flows (till very low) in a single and well-defined channel. I have 
 not been able to obtain the elements of the calculation, but the discharge under these circum- 
 stances was calculated by Lieut. Heathcote at 316,580 cubic feet per second. And the areas of 
 the stream at different heights, as deduced from his section, are 
 
 At supposed highest flood 133,800 sq. feet 
 
 As observed (ten and a half feet below ditto) . . 105,300 „ „ 
 Supposed lowest level 27,690 „ „ 
 
 (Before reaching which the stream seems to be divided.) 
 
 The discharge has also been measured by Dr. M'Clelland at Prome, on the 25th April, 1853, 
 when the river was about fifteen inches above its lowest level. The result of his calculations 
 was a discharge of 105,794 cubic feet per second. f 
 
 It has been measured again just above the head of the Delta, by Mr. T. Login, employed in 
 examining a scheme for opening the Bassein river. His calculation of the discharge is 75,000 
 cubic feet per second. For several reasons I think this more probable than Dr. M'Clelland's. 
 
 Wilcox deduced from measurements of the Dihong, and of the united Burrampooter at Goal- 
 para, that, after deduction of the former as foreign supply, there remains a low-water discharge 
 of 90,188 cubic feet per second as the drainage of 15 - 3 square degrees of surface ; and he cal- 
 culated from this that there probably might be a discharge of 180,000 feet in the Irawadi at 
 Prome during the dry season. 
 
 The far greater part of the Irawadi's basin is under very different conditions from those of the 
 Burrampooter, and a proportion deduced from the latter is far too high to be applied at Prome. 
 
 As well as can be ascertained, the areas drained by the Irawadi in different parts of its course, 
 assuming its sources in the Khamti mountains, are as follows : — 
 
 Immediately below the mouth of Mogoung River 5f sq. degrees 
 
 At Amarapoora 13| „ „ 
 
 At Prome . . ■ .31,, „ 
 
 At the head of the Delta 32 1 „ „ 
 
 And taking Wilcox's ratio to area of derivation, the dry weather dis- 
 charge at Amarapoora should be 79,577 cubic feet 
 
 Taking Dr. M'Clelland's Prome measurement as a basis, the Amarapoora 
 discharge should be 46,071 „ „ 
 
 And with Mr. Login's 31,154 „ „ 
 
 The last I suspect to be not much under the truth. 
 
 If we calculate in the same way what ought to be the discharge in the latitude of the 
 Mogoung river, we shall find it to be 
 
 By Wilcox's ratio 33,894 cubic feet 
 
 By M'Clelland's 19,623 „ „ 
 
 By Login's 13,270 ., „ 
 
 And the mean of the last two 16,447 „ „ 
 
 * Lieutenant Heathcote's information led him to estimate the difference between highest and lowest level of the 
 river at forty feet. I suspect, however, that this is too much. Burney, who lived close on the river hank, says in 
 his Journal, under date of July 17th, 1831, " The river is 32f feet above lowest level. This is a good deal more than 
 the greatest rise of last year. All the country for miles round the city is covered with water." 
 
 f See Dr. M'Clelland's paper, in Journ. As. Soc. Ben. vol. xxii. p. 484. 
 
360 APPENDIX. 
 
 This is a large body of water, but certainly not nearly so great as Captain Ilannay's .account 
 of the river would imply, if we could take his passing statements of breadth, depth, and velocity, 
 as the basis for a rough calculation of discharge. Even with considerable abatements these data 
 give nearly three times as much as that just indicated. From other incidental statements, 
 however, in the journals of Hannay and Bayfield, I have made similar rough calculations, and 
 have found the result considerably less.* Indeed no use can profitably be made of such inci- 
 dental statements in a calculation so liable to error. And it is worthy of notice that in the 
 locality mentioned above, the Irawadi must be dammed back by the narrow defile of the 
 Kyoukdwen, which it is approaching from an alluvial plain, and naturally spreads over a spacious 
 bed. In passing up the Kyoukdwen itself, Captain Hannay records his strong impression that 
 the sources of the river could not be very remote. 
 
 On the whole, there does not seem sufficient ground on which to build anything in opposition 
 to the strong evidence obtained by Wilcox and Hannay that the furthest sources of the Irawadi 
 are in the mountains above Khamti. We see that the volume of the river at the mouth of the 
 Mogoung tributary might be on the ratio afforded by the valley of Assam (assuming the cor- 
 rectness of Wilcox's measurements there) double what we deduce that it would be from actual 
 measurements of the river in the lower part of its course. And that the amount afforded by this 
 last deduction is not altogether inconsistent with the general character ascribed to the river by 
 Hannay and the other travellers who have traced it furthest, becomes more comprehensible, if 
 we consider that this deduced amount of volume is the very same that an observer like James 
 Prinsep was content to accept as that of the Ganges at Benares.f And it may be worth while 
 to remark, that the area drained by the Irawadi at the point in question (five-and-three-quarters 
 square degrees) is very nearly the same as that of the basin of the Rhine up to Cologne. 
 
 * Thus at Katha, the current is said by Captain Hannay to have been one mile and a half an hour, and the depth 
 eighteen feet. A little before the breadth had been stated to be two furlongs. Supposing the depth to be an average 
 (which is improbable), this would give a discharge of about 41,800. 
 
 Again, in the defile below Bamo, the width at some places is stated by Captain Hannay to be only 100 yards, with 
 a depth of seven to ten fathoms, and no current. Assuming for no current the liberal interpretation of one and a half 
 foot per second, we should have a discharge of 22,950. 
 
 A little above Bamo, Dr. Bayfield states the width at 400 yards, with a depth of four fathoms close to the right 
 bank, and one fathom in the centre. This gives a sectional area of superficial feet 10,800 ; which, assuming a centre 
 velocity of one and a half mile an hour, would give the discharge 19,000 cubic feet. 
 
 f As. Res. xvii. 467. 
 
APPENDIX. 
 
 361 
 
 Appendix H. 
 
 I. — Detail of Imports paying duty at Thayet-myo frontier Custom-house, for the three quarters 
 from February 1st, to November 1st, 1855. 
 
 1. Sesamum oil .... 
 
 2. Molasses (palm) . . . . 
 
 3. Silk goods and velvets 
 
 4. Cotton piece goods, thread and twist 
 
 5. Chillies, garlic, onions, and turmeric (ton 
 
 6. Cutch (tons 578) 
 
 7. Tea-leaves (lbs. 473,441) 
 
 8. Tobacco (Its. 1,142,545) 
 
 9. Petroleum (lbs. 6,679,140) 
 
 10. Teak timber (tons 8775) 
 
 11. Sweet-oil 
 
 12. Lackered boxes (No. 47,169) 
 
 13. Orpiment (lbs. 131,765) 
 
 14. Hardware . 
 
 15. Parabeiks (No. 4730) . 
 
 16. Tamarinds, plums, cigar-leaves, tobacco 
 
 cake, paper, straw, cocoa-nuts, &c. 
 
 17. Glassware, gold-leaf, silver, lead, copper. 
 
 18. Stick lac, indigo, vermilion, &c, 
 
 19. Sundries .... 
 
 Rs, 
 
 1220) 
 
 wood, oil 
 plates, &c 
 
 Value. 
 
 258,062 
 
 145,358 14 
 
 88,307 2 
 
 72,700 12 
 
 65,643 15 
 
 46,958 4 
 
 44,208 2 
 
 39,636 14 
 
 21,972 2 
 
 21,492 
 
 12,109 
 
 10,871 
 
 10,710 
 
 8,965 
 
 467 
 
 6 
 
 4 
 
 10 
 
 
 
 8 
 
 Amount 
 
 Rs. 25,806 
 
 14,535 
 
 8,832 
 
 7,275 
 
 8,564 
 
 4,695 
 
 4,421 
 
 3,968 
 
 2,200 
 
 2,668 
 
 1,210 
 
 1,087 
 
 1,071 
 
 914 
 
 46 
 
 of Duty. 
 11 
 
 4 
 
 7 
 
 10 
 3 
 2 
 3 
 6 
 1 
 15 
 10 
 
 
 
 14 9 
 12 3 
 
 12,432 11 6 
 
 6,449 6 
 
 2,553 13 1 
 
 45,551 2 
 
 1,242 5 9 
 
 646 10 3 
 
 255 1 3 
 
 5,054 15 2 
 
 Rs. 914,451 2 8 Rs. 94,497 7 11 
 
 N. B. — The above abstract is for the fourth quarter of 1854-55 and for the first two quar- 
 ters of 1855-56, as the imports were not recorded before February 1855, and no returns later 
 than November 1855 have been received. There are also anomalies of which I can give no 
 explanation. Thus the value attached to 8775 tons of teak timber is only Rs. 21,492, or less 
 than Rs. 2-8 per ton. 
 
 II. — Imports free of duty at Thayet-myo, during the three quarters just named. 
 
 1. Ponies (No. 16), valued at 
 
 2. Wheat (baskets 16,207) 
 
 3. Pulse (ditto 74,784) 
 
 4. Cotton 
 Other things 
 
 Rs. 1,940 
 
 . 17,799 
 
 . 55,968 4 
 
 1,341 2 
 
 768 5 9 
 
 Rs. 77,816 11 9 
 3 a 
 
362 
 
 APPENDIX. 
 
 III. — Abstract of Exports paying duty at Thayet-myo frontier Custom-house, for the year 
 from 1st November, 1854, to 1st November, 1855. 
 
 N.B. I have not been able to procure this return for the last official year. 
 
 Articles. 
 
 Ngapee (tons 13,502) 
 
 Paddy (baskets 1,719,436, or about 43,000 tons) 
 
 Rice (baskets 742,191, or about 18,600 tons) 
 
 Dried fish (tons 1734) 
 
 Salt (tons 7189) 
 
 Betel-nut (tons 716) . 
 
 Fish-roes 
 
 Leeches (?) 
 
 Rs. 
 
 Value. 
 939,707 1 
 594,124 11 
 451,278 5 
 297,578 9 
 206,091 9 
 118,925 4 
 190 12 
 
 6 
 2 
 2 
 8 
 11 
 10 
 
 
 Rs 
 
 Duty levied. 
 
 58,566 14 
 
 53,729 9 
 
 45,386 15 
 
 11,890 10 
 
 51,739 12 
 
 8,727 4 
 
 7 14 
 
 135 
 
 4 8 
 
 Rs. 26,08,031 6 3 Rs. 230,053 7 
 
 IV. — Abstract of Exports free of duty passing Thayet-myo frontier Custom-house, for the 
 year from 1st November, 1854, to 1st November, 1855. 
 
 N.B. I have not been able to obtain this return for the last official year. 
 
 Cotton piece goods, thread, twist, &c. . . . Rs. 227,539 15 8 
 
 Silk piece goods, velvet, &c. ...... 76,335 12 
 
 Woollens, shawls, &c 27,666 8 
 
 Cigar-leaves and tobacco 20,588 8 
 
 Crockery '. 20,511 7 
 
 Spices and medicines 10,612 12 
 
 Hardware 5,090 12 
 
 Glassware 2,844 
 
 Cocoa-nuts, dye, paper, and gold-leaf . . . . . 3, 102 8 
 
 Sundries 17,593 12 8 
 
 Rs. 411,885 15 4 
 
 Appendix I. 
 
 Specimens of the Reigning King's Edicts. 
 
 No. I. — Edict regarding Land (Private Property) formerly taken by Persons in Power. 
 
 The inhabitants residing in the various towns, districts, and villages within the Royal kingdom, 
 who claim paddy-fields, fenced-gardens, islands, and lands appropriated for dry cultivation, by 
 right of inheritance, or by purchase, (are informed that) If such property have been forcibly 
 
APPENDIX. 363 
 
 taken from them, by the royal brothers or sons, the queens, nobles, or any of the officers of 
 state, on the plea of its having been granted by royal order, it is hereby notified, that such 
 unlawful proceedings will not be allowed, and that the right to the property above-mentioned 
 should be submitted to the Hlwotdau, and the royal permission obtained for its repossession. 
 (March 11, 1853.) 
 
 No. II. — Edict regarding Debts incurred by Persons appointed to Office. 
 
 His most glorious and excellent Majesty, Lord of the earth and water, Lord of the white 
 Elephant, and of many white Elephants, Lord of the celestial weapon, Lord of life and great 
 Chief of righteousness, proclaims, — 
 
 In the Eoyal kingdom, the officers of Government in the Golden City, the tsaubwas (tributary 
 chieftains), lords of districts, governors of towns, and the generals of the army, have borrowed 
 money on account of the towns and villages ; — and also private soldiers have borrowed money ; 
 the mode of recovery for such debts is various ; the creditor in some cases is wealthy or 
 influential, and the debtor poor, or in distressed circumstances ; the latter is (thus) unable to 
 discharge the debt. Though the debtor repays the full amount due by instalments, the creditor 
 calculates the amount of interest and renews the bond, by which means the debt is doubled, and 
 the original amount repeatedly paid. Such transactions, being contrary to justice, cause 
 the forfeiture of the double merit which might be attained in the present and future state 
 of existence. 
 
 If an order be issued not to demand money that was borrowed during an emergency, it 
 would cause loss both to the debtor and creditor ; and if permission be granted to claim 
 debts incurred during the past and present reigns, it will give trouble, and distress the people in 
 the service of Government, in the several towns and villages. It is therefore ordered, that 
 claims for money borrowed within the royal kingdom on account of the towns and villages, and 
 debts incurred on account of the private soldiers of each circle or division, should not be 
 submitted at the Hlwotdau, or at the inferior court Yoom-dau, neither should the heads or 
 chiefs of the division or circle, nor the governors of towns, or general officers, adjudicate 
 such claims, but the demand should be made by a petition to his Majesty. (April 10th, 1853.) 
 
 No. III. — First Edict regarding the Courts of Justice. 
 
 His most excellent and glorious Majesty, Lord of the earth and water, Lord of the white 
 Elephant and of many white Elephants, Lord of the celestial weapon, Lord of life, and great 
 Chief of righteousness, proclaims that, — 
 
 I, the most excellent sovereign, having in the former state of existence accomplished all the 
 duties of religion, have now become the " Lokah-tha moo-di-nat,"* or Supreme Monarch, and 
 wishing to attain also to deity, assiduously practise all the duties incumbent on kings, like unto 
 the most excellent and good kings Phra Aloung and Mandat, the sovereigns of the four grand 
 islands. I promote and glorify the royal religion, and desire the happiness of all created 
 beings during my own reign, and continually hereafter during the reign of my Royal son, 
 great-grandson, and great-great-grandsons. The nobles and other officers of state who have 
 
 * Qu. Loka-samudr-nath, Lord of Earth and Sea? — (F.) 
 
364 APPENDIX. 
 
 been promoted and appointed to offices of trust by me, their sovereign, and who administer th e 
 affairs of the empire for the benefit and advantage of religion, of the king, and of the country, 
 should be careful not to utter falsehoods, to give way to violent anger, or to neglect their duty 
 for pleasure ; these three unworthy principles should be avoided. 
 
 There are three descriptions of bribery, viz. high influence, wealth, and friendship. 
 
 The four infidelities are occasioned by selfish desire, by ill-will, by ignorance, and by fe ar. 
 The six good qualities are, patience, watchfulness, activity, industry, impartiality, and com- 
 passion. The three permanent rules connected with the world, with kings, and with justice, 
 should be attended to. The eight requisite qualifications in nobles and officers of state are, 
 intelligence, piety, courage, prudence, mental abilities, bodily strength, indifference to wealth, 
 and to be affable and pleasing in conversation. 
 
 The nobles and officers of state should maturely consider and avoid that which is improper, 
 adopting only such precepts as will enable and assist them in the administration of the affairs of 
 the empire. But the nobles and officers of my Royal elder brother, the chief of righteousness, 
 did not pay any attention to their duties ; they received large bribes of gold and silver, 
 and decided unjustly ; the poor people our subjects were thereby greatly harassed and 
 distressed. 
 
 During my Royal golden reign, the good nobles and officers of state should carefully 
 attend to the established rules, and so administer the affairs as will advance the glory of 
 the holy religion, and prove beneficial and advantageous to the sovereign and to all the 
 people of the empire. 
 
 No investigation shall take place, or decision be given, in civil suits at the inner or upper or 
 Royal Courts (Royal criminal Court) or at the Yoom-dau ; all such cases should be made over 
 to the Tara-Yoom (or Civil Court). Case3 of hereditary or official rights, and claims for 
 disputes about boundaries,* shall be filed and investigated at the Hlwotdau : all criminal cases 
 shall be inquired into and decided at the Eastern Hall of Justice (Yoom-dau). 
 
 The several officers attached to the Inner and Supreme Courts, Eastern and Western Halls of 
 Justice, and of the Civil Court, have been promoted and appointed by his Majesty in accordance 
 with their talents and abilities ; the scribes and messengers will also receive the Royal bounty in 
 silver, and therefore, on the reception of plaints regarding hereditary or official rights, criminal 
 cases, and so on, no fees whatever shall be levied, nor shall the complainants be put to any 
 expense on the plea of fees due for pleaders or judges, or for the fees termed "obeisance to 
 the wisdom of (the) appeal (court)" or for fees to messengers : — ■ The decision should be clear 
 and conclusive. 
 
 With reference to the fees chargeable on the filing of civil or criminal suits from all the 
 distant towns, districts, and villages, in the Royal kingdom, including the Golden City, the 
 heads or chiefs who have the right to prosecute or represent cases, civil or criminal, &c, shall 
 be charged the undermentioned rates, viz. : — 
 
 For filing the suit 5 Mhoos (8 as.) 
 
 Scribe's charge for entry 7 Mhoos 1 pe. (14 as.) 
 
 Judge's or solicitor's charge as " obeisance to their wisdom," each 
 
 party paying 5 Mhoos (8 as.) 
 
 Scribe's fee for copying the decision 2 Mhoos 1 pe. (5 as.) 
 
 Charge for hlapet, or tea, which is eaten both by the plaintiff 
 
 and defendant as a token of the final settlement of the case 2 Mhoos 1 pe. (5 as.) 
 
 * Apparently boundaries of districts, &c. 
 
APPENDIX. 365 
 
 With reference to the Fees chargeable on Administering Oaths, the following rates are 
 
 established, viz : — 
 
 Scribe's fee for entry (each party paying) 5 Mhoos (8 as.) 
 
 Ditto Messenger 2 Mhoos 1 pe. (5 as.) 
 
 Ditto For producing the book of oaths 5 Mhoos (8 as.) 
 
 Ditto Administering the oath 2 Mhoos ] pe. (5 as.) 
 
 Regarding Ordeals by burning a candle, cheioing raw rice, being immersed in water, and 
 thrusting the finger in melted lead: if any of these four kinds of trial by Ordeal is adopted, 
 the Charges are (first) for the Ordeal of Burning Candles: 
 
 Scribe's fee for entry (each party paying) 5 Mhoos (8 as.) 
 
 Messenger's fee 2 Mhoos 1 pe. (4 as.) 
 
 Value of bees' wax 2 Mhoos 1 pe. (5 as.) 
 
 Fee to the person that watches the time of burning of the candle 
 
 and notes the relative time 2 Mhoos 1 pe. (5 as.) 
 
 Charges for the Ordeal of Chewing and Swallowing Maw Rice. 
 
 Scribe's fee for entry (each party paying) 5 Mhoos (8 as.) 
 
 Messenger's fee 2 Mhoos 1 pe. (5 as.) 
 
 Value of the rice 2 Mhoos 1 pe. (o as.) 
 
 Fee to the person that watches the time of chewing 2 Mhoos 1 pe. (5 as.) 
 
 * 
 
 Charges for the Ordeal by Water. 
 
 Scribe's fee for entry (each party paying) 5 Mhoos (8 as.) 
 
 Messenger's fee 2 Mhoos I pe. (5 as.) 
 
 Fee to the person who has charge of the landing-place .... 5 Mhoos (8 as.) 
 
 Ditto For fixing the posts in the water 5 Mhoos (8 as.) 
 
 Ditto For holding the rope, the ends being given to the 
 
 parties diving under water 5 Mhoos (8 as.) 
 
 Ditto Placing the bamboo on the heads of both parties to 
 enable them to go under water at the same 
 
 moment 5 Mhoos (8 as.) 
 
 Fee to the person watching the relative time the parties have 
 
 remained under water 5 Mhoos (8 as.) 
 
 Charges for the Ordeal by Melted Lead. 
 
 Scribe's fee for entry (each party paying) 5 Mhoos (8 as.) 
 
 Messenger's fee 2 Mhoos 1 pe. (5 as.) 
 
 Price of the lead 5 Mhoos (8 as.) 
 
 * This ordeal appears to be known among all the Indo-Chinese nations, including the islanders of the Archipelago. 
 The following is a notice of the practice among the Kasias of the Sylhet Mountains. " The water ordeal used to be 
 a common mode of decision. The opponents with much ceremony plunged their heads under water on opposite sides 
 of a consecrated pool, and he had the right who remained longest under water. I have been told that it was lawful 
 to use the services of practised attorneys in this mode of trial : so that long-winded lawyers have as decided a pre- 
 ference in thesa regions as elsewhere. The last case of this ordeal, between parties belonging to Cherra Poonjee, 
 occurred five or six years ago, and was fatal to both plaintiff and defendant." — Notes on Kasia Hills and People in 
 Jour. As. Soc. Ben. 1856. 
 
366 
 
 APPENDIX. 
 
 Fee for superintending the melting of the lead and for grass 
 which is wrapped round the finger before thrusting it in the 
 
 melted lead 1 Tikal. 
 
 In all cases civil and criminal, &c, the messenger who summons 
 
 the parties will receive at the rate of 2 Mhoos 1 pe per Taing.* 
 
 Scribe's fee for noting the proceeding, and final decision ... 5 Mhoos (8 as.) 
 
 Messenger's fee 2 Mhoos 1 pe. (5 as.) 
 
 Solicitor's or pleader's fee for the first " response " or pleading of 
 
 the case 2 Mhoos 1 pe. (5 as.) 
 
 Travelling charges for do. at the rate of 5 Mhoos (8 as.) per Taing. 
 
 In cases of imprisonment either in the common jails or places of 
 temporary detention, the fee for receiving charge of a 
 
 prisoner is 5 Mhoos (8 as.) 
 
 The magistrate's or judge's fees are in accordance with the 
 amount of fines levied or value of suits decided, viz. for each 
 
 viss of silver 10 Tikals. 
 
 This much only will they be allowed to receive : 
 For copying orders or decisions ; 
 For entering the same ; 
 
 For transferring or removing a case for the decision of any other magistrate or judge ; 
 For additional insertion in the statement or deposition ; 
 
 For making out an account or list, and claiming the ten per cent from both the plaintiff and 
 defendant ; 
 
 The proper and established fees only shall be taken ; no further sums should be extorted, 
 but if, in contravention of this my established and Royal proclamation, any one receives more 
 than the established fees, he shall be punished by the ministers in accordance with his guilt. 
 
 Let this Royal proclamation be distributed among all the hereditary chieftains of Palaces 
 and Umbrellas, the Tsaubwas, and Tsau-khans, Myo-tsas (lords of districts), Myo-woons 
 (governors), Tsit-kes (Judges), and to all the different heads and chiefs of districts and villages. 
 —(April 24th, 1853.) 
 
 No. IV. — Edict forbidding the services of Inhabitants being taken by Princes and Chiefs to the 
 
 detriment of the State. 
 
 In the reign of my Royal great-great-grandfather, the census of the various towns, districts, 
 and villages within the Royal kingdom, were carefully taken, during the years 1145 and 1154, 
 and the number of persons liable to be called to occasional service, and of those in the actual 
 service of Government, was finally arranged and settled. 
 
 Subsequently fives and tens of these individuals having the command of money, and disliking 
 the chiefs of their respective towns and districts, were unwilling to serve in their appointed 
 places, but proffered their services to those in authority (Queens and Princes), by engaging to 
 supply them with oil and tobacco, or to serve them as followers and attendants. Their services 
 having in this clandestine manner been transferred to others, the chiefs of towns and villages 
 were unable to complete the number of armed men required for the service of Government, and 
 the settlement of the different districts and villages was thereby disarranged. It is therefore 
 ordered that no persons, by tens or fives, should be allowed to withdraw from their appointed 
 places in the districts, on the plea of supplying oil, tobacco, &c. (to those in authority). But 
 
 * A Taing is a little more than two miles. 
 
APPENDIX. 367 
 
 that, if the Queens, Royal brothers or sons, and Royal concubines, require betel or ■water-carriers, 
 umbrella or palanquin-bearers, the capabilities of their respective towns and villages should be 
 taken into consideration, and the number of followers fixed. 
 
 By the adoption of such a measure, the list of soldiers would not be incomplete, and those 
 required for the service of Government would be always available. The nobles and other officers 
 of state should likewise not allow the clandestine transfer of such services to themselves. 
 
 The above Royal order, composed by the ministers at the Hlwotdau, having been approved, 
 is hereby promulgated. — (April 25th, 1853.) 
 
 No. V. — Release of Prisoners. 
 
 Royal edict or amnesty granted during the festival of " beg -pardon day" to prisoners confined 
 in the several jails within the Royal kingdom. 
 
 His most glorious and excellent Majesty, Lord of the earth and water, Lord of the white 
 Elephant, and of many white Elephants, Lord of the celestial weapon, Lord of life, and great 
 Chief of righteousness, declares, — 
 
 I, your most excellent sovereign, who observe all the laws incumbent on kings in the 
 manner that the ancient most excellent and good kings have practised ; who protect and rule 
 the inhabitants of the kingdom, and all created beings, in accordance with the established laws ; 
 and having inherited the kingdom of my father, with the golden palace and umbrella ; and like 
 unto my great-great-grandfather Theeridumma-thau-ka-Men and Dewa-nanpeya Tietha-Men,* 
 and others who practically observed religion, and having attained the merits of a former exist- 
 ence by charitable deeds, I now earnestly desire to promote the spread and further extension of 
 the Royal holy religion. 
 
 The inhabitants, and all created beings, should abstain from deeds which lead to evil and 
 violate the eternal law ; and, desiring that they should follow the good and excellent law which 
 leads to the Nat regions and to Neibban, and, moreover, being anxious to extend the Royal 
 established religion, I enjoin, and recommend, and exhort to the faithful observance of its 
 precepts and doctrines. 
 
 Within the Royal kingdom all those that are under my Royal authority, the Hlwotdau 
 (Supreme Court), Yoomdau (Inferior Court), Tsaubwas, or hereditary chieftains, lords of dis- 
 tricts, governors of provinces, tsitkes, or lieutenants, and heads of divisions or circles, &c, in 
 whose prisons are placed persons convicted of civil or criminal offences, who, although they 
 should be punished in accordance with their crimes, yet, as on the attainment of divine excellence 
 evil is removed from all created beings, and they enjoy comfort and happiness, (so I), having 
 attained the title of King and the exalted blessings of the white umbrella, now solemnly open 
 the festival of the " beg-pardon day." At the period of this propitious occasion, among the 
 persons that are confined no exceptions should be made ; whether their crimes are heavy or 
 light, great or small, hoping that all the evil passions inherent in humanity may subside in the 
 breasts of all created beings, and further, to secure the merit of rescuing from calamity those who 
 are suffering privations and afflictions in confinement, and having preserved the land-animals, 
 birds, and fishes from injury, I now grant an amnesty and general release to the prisoners. Let 
 them, therefore, without exception, be entirely released. 
 
 In the year 1216, tenth day of the waning moon Ka-tshoun, this edict was proclaimed at 
 the morning levee in the presence of the Atwen-Woons, by the Royal Than-dau-tshen-men-lha 
 thain-ga-thoo. — (May 21st, 1854.) 
 
 * These syllables are intended to represent the names of the great Sri Dharm' Asoka, King of India, and of 
 Dewananpiyatisso, King of Ceylon, under whom Buddhism was established in that island, circa B.C. 250. — (F.) 
 
368 APPENDIX. 
 
 Appendix J. 
 
 Specimen of a Burmese Drama. By Major Phatre. 
 
 The Burmese dramas are all taken from ancient stories, either of supposed events in the 
 former births of Gautama, or of events in the lives of the several Princes of countries in 
 Gangetic India. During our passage up the river Irawadi, the story of Gautama's own life 
 before he became a Buddhist monk, formed the subject of the plays represented by Marion- 
 nettes. The plays, as acted, appear to be " adapted to the stage " from the histories by the chief 
 of a company, or stage-manager. 
 
 I procured, while at Amarapoora, copies of several of the plays we saw acted, and it was 
 evident, that while the general plan of the story, and the more solemn and dignified part of the 
 dialogue, was written down at considerable length, a great deal, indeed the entire humorous 
 portion, was left to the wit of the actor. The copies I procured were veritable stage ones. 
 Generally speaking, the same plays can be represented either by puppets or actors. 
 
 The drama, of which I now propose to give a sketch, is the life of Oo-dein-na, King of 
 Kau-tham-bi, a country in India. This was acted by puppets while we were at Amarapoora. 
 It is a translation from the Pali, and the whole is in Burmese verse of four syllables. 
 
 \The scene opens in the capital of Kau-tham-bi. The King on his throne and his courtiers 
 around him.~\ 
 
 King {addresses iheni). — Great nobles and chiefs ! 
 
 Nobles.— Phra (Lord) ! 
 
 King. — Are my subjects happy and prosperous ? 
 
 Nobles. — Since your Majesty's happy reign began, religion has shone forth with splendour ; 
 the seasons have been propitious — the earth has been bountiful — the rich and the poor, men 
 and women, have enjoyed peace and prosperity, and the happy years have been to them as 
 water to the lotus. 
 
 Scene closes. 
 
 Himalaya Mountains — Enter a Nat. 
 
 Nat. — Now I am a Nat ! When and in what body was I before ? Ah ! looking with a 
 Nat's eyes and understanding, I perceive I was a hermit in these wilds. My companion A-la- 
 kap-pa is still here. I will seek my friend. 
 
 [Arrives where a cave is.~\ 
 
 Hermit. — Who art thou that comest suddenly to my cell in the garb and appearance of a 
 Nat, with the nine jewels in thy crown ? 
 
 Nat. — O holy Hermit, of a good lineage, who ever livest in the forest, tell me all thou 
 desirest, so that nought may remain unsaid ! 
 
 Hermit. — O Nat ! who by stupendous merit hast reached thy exalted abode, I have nothing 
 particular to ask; but numerous elephants come around my cell, and do great dajnage. Be 
 pleased to forbid this for the future. 
 
 Nat. — holy Hermit ! I will give unto thee a golden harp, and by the virtue of its 
 sounds, and thy song accompanying, elephants will come or go as thou commandest. 
 
appendix. 369 
 
 Scene. 
 Palace at Kau-tham-bi. 
 Enter King and Queen. 
 
 Queen. — O glorious Lord of Hill and Plain ! may it please you, of the three seasons, the 
 rains, the winter, and the summer, it is now the very coldest. I cannot find warmth from a 
 cloak ; may I go and remain out in the sunshine ? 
 
 King. — Beloved Queen, the constellation of Orion and the Moon are now near to each other, 
 and the season is cold. When thou wishest to bask in the sun, wrap thyself in the crimson 
 mantle, put this sparkling ring on thy finger, and go forth to enjoy thyself. 
 
 [ The Queen goes out to sit in the sun.~\ 
 
 Scene in the solitary wilds of Himalaya. 
 
 Enter an immense Bird. 
 
 Bird (speaks). — From the beginning of the world there have been numerous sorts of birds, 
 cranes, ducks, crows, peacocks, and others. I am not of their sort. My power would extin- 
 guish them all. My home is amidst vast mountains and pathless forests, and ever and anon I 
 descend from them. I will now go to the country of Kau-tham-bi to seek for food. So* 
 now (to the band), as I am about to fly, strike up a victorious melody, leader of the 
 orchestra ! 
 
 \The Bird commences his flight, and, soaring aloft, says: — ] 
 
 This is a beautiful country, and full of golden palaces, and lovely gardens with gorgeous 
 coloured flowers and shrubs. Nevertheless, I must look out for something to eat. Thus 
 turning north and turning south, looking up and looking down, I spy outside the King's palace 
 a piece of flesh red, red as blood. It is mine as sure as the food in a monk's begging-dish — it 
 cannot escape. I will stoop at it, seize it, and fly away ; and now that I may easily reach 
 the large tree in my own mountain from this country of Kau-tham-bi, play a soft and 
 simple air, leader of the orchestra ! 
 
 [The bird seizes the Queen, mistaking her red mantle for the appearance of flesh, flies 
 away with her to the mountains, and deposits her in a tree. The bird comes as if to devour 
 her, when the Queen claps her hands at him, which frightens the bird, and he flies away.~\ 
 
 Scene in Kau-tham-bi. 
 Present — the King and Ministers. 
 
 Minister. — Great and glorious King, a monstrous bird has descended and carried off the 
 anointed Queen who dwells to the south on your majesty's right hand, and we bring the 
 mournful intelligence, making humble obeisance to the golden feet. 
 
 King. — She was beautiful as the Queen of Heaven. The cruel bird has seized the 
 Queen of the Southern Palace. Instantly assemble an army, and I myself will march to her 
 rescue. 
 
 * The comical stage effect of the characters addressing the orchestra is very frequent. — (A. P. P.) 
 
 3 B 
 
370 APPENDIX. 
 
 Scene changes. 
 
 The Queen discovered on a tree weeping. 
 
 Queen. — Ah, once was I happy with my Lord of the Palace. Now I must meet the evil 
 death. I know not where I am. The East, the West, the North, the South, where are they ? 
 Alas ! I think of my past enjoyment, and am like one consumed with fire. Behold, my 
 husband, my sad condition ! 
 
 \_It begins to rain, and the Queen brings forth a son.] 
 
 The Hermit A-la-kap-pa (discovered in his cell). — Every day I go to search for food under 
 the tree where the elephant bird perches, and pick up what he lets fall. Thus I do as a 
 Hermit of the forest. I will go now, according to my wont. 
 
 \_The Hermit goes to the foot of the tree where the Queen is. The Queen weeps."] 
 
 Queen. — O, my child, in the midst of a wild wood, with only a tree for thy shelter, I cannot 
 have thee tended and cared for. I will embrace and kiss thee. If we were in Kau-tham-bi, 
 thy own father would fondle thee in his arms. May thy power become great hereafter. 
 I love thee as a precious jewel. In the Palace thou shalt have nurses, attendants, and compa- 
 nions, and a cradle set with gems, with singers to lull thee to sleep. This cannot J>e now. Oh, 
 what evil destiny is mine that this calamity lias befallen me ! I feel like one stricken. As 
 thou hast been born at the change of the seasons, I will call thee Oo-dein-na. 
 
 Enter the Hermit A-la-kap-pa. 
 
 Hermit. — I hear the sound of weeping such as I never heard before. It is very wonderful. 
 Is it a man, a Nat, or a Naga ? I will inquire : Who is there up in that tree ? [sees the Queen] 
 From what country art thou, daughter ? 
 
 Queen. — I am the Queen of a great monarch, and the great bird stole me away from my 
 husband, and placed me on this tree. Only since I was brought here have I seen the face of 
 my child. 
 
 [ The Hermit assists the Queen to descend the tree. She remains in the forest, and being 
 unable to return to her country in consequence of its great distance, marries the Hermit, and 
 they continue to live in the cave.] 
 
 Scene changes. 
 
 The Prince has grown up. 
 
 The Hermit (looking up at the stars). — The constellations have descended to the western 
 island. Of the planets, Saturn is dim ; — so I know the King of Kau-tham-bi has departed 
 this life. 
 
 [ The Queen weeps.] 
 
 Hermit. — Why dost thou weep ? 
 
 Queen. — He was my husband, and the father of my child ; though outwardly indifferent to 
 my fate, I inwardly suffer deep distress. 
 
 Hermit. — Grieve not. In Neibban alone there is no death. Death is the lot of all beings 
 on earth. 
 
APPENDIX. 371 
 
 Queen. — I approve thy words ; but my son still remains, and does not enjoy his rights. 
 Hermit. — I love thy son, and will take care of him, and assist him. 
 
 [ The young Prince Oo-dein-na enters. The Hermit presents him with a golden harp, and 
 teaches him a tune and song. 
 
 The Prince retires to the tree he teas born on, ascends it and plays. The wild elephants of 
 the forest come around him, and are obedient to his voice and harp. The Hermit then directs 
 him to go to Kau-tham-bi.^ 
 
 Prince. — Gracious mother ! I go to Kau-tham-bi. What are your commands ? 
 
 Queen. — Beloved son, when you reach Kau-tham-bi, the nobles will not believe you are 
 the heir. I give thee an emerald ring, which show to them. If they believe not that, show 
 them this mantle, which was thy father's. They will then resist no more. 
 
 Scene near Kau-tham-bi, Prince Oo-dein-na sends on Messengers. 
 
 Prince. — I thus inform the inhabitants of Kau-tham-bi that they should receive me as their 
 King, and deliver up to me the Palace. This they should do without delay. 
 
 Reply of Nobles. — The Queen of our monarch was, while pregnant, carried away by a great 
 bird. It is now long ago, and we know not whether she is alive or not, or whether she had a 
 child or not, therefore we do not wish to deliver up to you the Palace. 
 
 Prince. — I now shall go near to the city with my army, and summon the nobles. 
 
 Enter Nobles. Prince addresses them, tells them his history, the story of his birth, and his name. 
 
 Nobles. — This is a wonderful tale ! give us some token by which we shall know it to be true. 
 
 Prince. — Behold the emerald ring, and the red mantle, which my royal parents possessed. 
 
 Nobles. — We believe, my Lord. We tender our allegiance, and entreat you to take posses- 
 sion of your father's kingdom. 
 
 Prince. — When the stars are propitious, and all is prepared, I will by eight Brahmins be 
 anointed, — then take the vows of a King, and ascend the golden Palace. 
 
 [ This ceremony is supposed to be performed, and he goes to the Palace."] 
 Scene, Palace at Kau-tham-bi. 
 
 King Oo-dein-na. — I now have reached the position of my father as chief of the country; 
 but I have no Queen. Let it therefore be proclaimed, that the nobles and people of respectability 
 bring their daughters for me to choose a wife. 
 
 Nobles. — There is one wealthy man named Gau-tha-ka, who has a daughter named Tha-ma- 
 wa-di, wonderfully beautiful, and worthy to be Queen. 
 
 [ Tha-ma-wa-di is brought, and at once installed as Queen.~] 
 
 \Here a stage direction intimates, that as the audience like to hear chiefly about Kings and 
 Queens, Princes and Princesses, the actors are to leap apart of the story and go on to"] 
 
372 APPENDIX. 
 
 Scene in Ooh-dzay-ni country,* the King of which is named Chan-da-peetz-tzau-td in his 
 
 Palace. 
 
 King. — I shall go forth to the garden ; summon the guards and attendants. 
 
 Nobles. — We obey. 
 
 King. — Is there any King in the world with elephants and horses so beautiful as mine ? 
 
 Nobles. — O, King, there is one King among the sixteen great countries, who is also a great 
 King like you — Oo-dein-na of Kau-tham-bi. 
 
 King. — Will it not be proper to bring Oo-dein-na here by force ? 
 
 Nobles. — He has great power, and possesses the secret power of controlling elephants, which 
 makes it difficult to take him. 
 
 [ They go forth to the garden."] 
 
 Scene, the forest bordering the two countries of Kau-tham-bi and Ooh-dzay-ni. 
 
 Enter a Hunter, 
 
 Hunter. — I and my dog will now go and kill whatever enemy appears. With my bow and 
 my dog, I care not what I encounter, elephants, tigers, deer, or what not; so come along (to his 
 dog) brave Tiger. ( To the band) Now, as I go forth on a grand expedition, burst forth like 
 thunder. 
 
 [Enters the forest and sits down.~\ 
 
 Scene in Ooh-dzay-ni Palace. 
 
 King. — Wise nobles and chiefs ! I purpose making the figure of a large elephant, moveable 
 by machinery, which shall be placed on the borders of the Kau-tham-bi country, and Oo-dein-na 
 hearing of it, will come to capture it. Then the sham elephant retreating, shall lead him into 
 an ambush, and wo will take him. 
 
 [The elephant is made and sent to the forest. ~] 
 
 Scene in Forest. 
 
 Enter Hunter. 
 
 Hunter. — Here have I toiled and met nothing. Not an arrow has left my bow. Why is 
 this ? Ah, I see now, there's a white elephant ; that accounts for it. I shall go and give infor- 
 mation to my Lord Oo-dein-na. ( To the band) As I am returning home, strike up an ear- 
 piercing tune. 
 
 Scene in Kau-tham-bi Palace. 
 
 King Oo-dein-na and nobles. 
 
 Nobles. — In a deep forest a white elephant with a body glistening like silver and splendid 
 tusks, has been met by a hunter. 
 
 King. — Is this true ? If so, I myself will go forth to capture him . 
 
 * Ujain, I presume. — (I r ) 
 
APPENDIX. 373 
 
 Scene in forest. 
 Enter King with a harp, sees the white elephant and plays. Elephant retires. 
 
 King. — What ! though I strike the harp, still you do not come ; but I will follow thee up 
 until I compel thee. 
 
 [ The King follows after the elephant amidst thick forests, and becomes separated from his 
 attendants, when men concealed in the bushes rush out and capture him.~] 
 
 Scene in Ook-dzay-ni. 
 
 King Chan-da-peetz-tzau-td and nobles. 
 
 Nobles. — King Oo-dein-na has been captured, O King ! 
 
 King. — Keep him strictly in prison, and have him well watched, that I may know what he 
 says ; but first call him now to the presence. 
 
 Enter Oo-dein-na. 
 
 King. — You have now come to my country and must obey me. You must also disclose to 
 me the secret of your power over elephants. When I know that, you shall return to your own 
 country. 
 
 Oo-dein-na. — I can only instruct in that art him who will make obeisance to me. 
 
 King. — You are younger than I am, so I will not make obeisance, and if you do not divulge 
 to me the secret I will put you to death. 
 
 [As Oo-dein-na toill not consent to teach any one ivho will not bow down to him, it is 
 arranged that the King shall send a female servant to be instructed, and he sends his daughter 
 disguised to learn the secret. She is not told the rank of the person who is to instruct her.~\ 
 
 Scene. 
 
 The Court assembled — the King's daughter, Wa-thoo-la, appears, but behind a curtain. 
 
 Oo-dein-na. — Sister, if you wish to know the secret, you must repeat carefully what I 
 say. 
 
 [He appears to whisper towards the curtain.'] 
 
 You cannot repeat as I do ; your comprehension appears dull. 
 
 Princess. — I shall endeavour to understand you ; but you are rude in speech. 
 
 [After considerable fencing in speech between the tivo,] 
 
 Oo-dein-na (opening the curtain.) — Why, she is not a servant. She is a beautiful, high- 
 born lady. 
 
 [Here the stage direction is in the play, " The Princess, seeing a young man, they mutually 
 talk of love." 
 
 In the end, the Princess manages the escape of King Oo-dein-na from her father's domi- 
 nions, and flies with him to his kingdom.'] 
 
374 
 
 APPENDIX. 
 
 Scene in Kau-tham-bi. 
 
 A Brahman (to his niece Magandi). — I propose presenting you to the King. 
 Magandi. — Very well, uncle. 
 
 At Palace, enter the Brahman. 
 
 King. — Whence art thou ? 
 
 Brahmin — From Goo-a-roo-yeet — my brother went to the forest as an ascetic, and left his 
 daughter with me, whom I brought up, and now present to your Majesty. 
 
 King to Nobles. — I now have three beautiful Queens. Tha-ma-wad-di, whom I married 
 first on arrival here, and who, though not of royal race, is my chief Queen, Wa-thoo-la, and 
 Magandi. I desire that a suitable Palace be built for each. 
 
 "The scenes following are too tedious to give in detail. They chiefly refer to the quarrels 
 of the two Queens, Tha-ma-wad-di and Magandi. Tha-ma-wad-di is a worshipper of Gautama, 
 who is then alive, and is represented as coming occasionally to beg food in Kau-tham-bi. 
 
 " The King, being instigated by Magandi (who is opposed to the religion preached by 
 Gautama) against Tha-ma-wad-di, assays to put her to death with arrows ; but the arrows 
 rebound from her body and strike the King. He cries out to Tha-ma-wad-di for protection, and 
 she informs him the best protection is to believe in Gautama, and practise the law of Buddha. 
 
 " The play ends with the triumph of Tha-ma-wad-di, and the disgrace of the artful and 
 malicious Magandi, who appears to have been supported in her conduct by her uncle, the 
 Brahman. 
 
 " There is no hint given in the play of the return to Kau-tham-bi of the mother of 
 Oo-dein-na."— (A. P. P.) 
 
 The chief persons and incidents of this drama are taken from the Katha, Sarit Sagara of 
 Somadeva — the story of Udayand, prince of Kausambi, and Chandasena, king of Ujayin, is 
 translated in the Oriental Quarterly, June 1824, p. 273, and into German by Brockhaus. 
 
 Appendix K. 
 
 The Mission of Gerard Van Wusthof to the King of the Laos. 
 
 The Chapter in Valentyn * is entitled ; 
 
 " Anent the land of the Louwen (Laos), and a journey thereunto made by our folk in Anno 
 1641. How long our Ambassador was on the way up this perilous river. What places he met 
 with, and with what state he was received. The Prince and his troops described. And what 
 besides then befel. His presents to the Ambassador and his train. The presents sent to him 
 and his further requests. The Ambassador's voyage back again. The Ambassador's remarks 
 on this country. The goods that are met ivith, and which take there. The King's income. The 
 government of the country. Their New-year's day." 
 
 The people of this country, though they have a different king from Cambodia, trade much 
 with the latter. There are also in the land of the Laos many costly articles, which find a good 
 market in Japan and elsewhere. 
 
 * III. Pt. ii. Tonkin and Cambodia, p. 50. 
 
APPENDIX. 375 
 
 In March 1641, some merchants of this country came on board a Dutch ship from Cambodia 
 to Batavia, in order to get a better knowledge of the Dutch, whom the Portuguese spoke of to 
 them with habitual disparagement. They were well received and well pleased, and the Governor 
 determined to send a mission and presents, with a view to cultivating the friendship of the rulers, 
 and acquiring useful knowledge of the country and its trade. 
 
 A party was accordingly despatched from the Cambodia factory, consisting of the junior 
 merchant, Gerard Van Wusthof, as head of the mission, with William de Goper and Hubert Van 
 Lokhorst as assistants, besides a surgeon, two Dutch boys, and a Malay from Patani as inter- 
 preter. They took a small sample invoice of parti-coloured cloth, fine calico, and emerald rings, 
 worth altogether about 6600 florins. 
 
 They took two months and three weeks to ascend to Winkjan, the King's residence, which 
 lay 250 miles* up the river. This river, called the river of the Laos, comes from the upper 
 country of Pegu, and flowing east and south through the Laos country, enters the sea near Cam- 
 bodia, after a course of about 300 (Dutch) miles. 
 
 The river was found sometimes very broad, and sometimes very narrow, and abounding in 
 rocks. There were also horrible waterfalls, which compelled them to unload all the boats, in 
 order to drag them up and down. I They passed some towns and villages on the way, well built 
 after the fashion of those parts, and here and there they saw a house or temple of stone. 
 
 The names of the places passed were these : Loim, Gockelok, Looim, Simpoe, the large town 
 of Sombok, Sombaboer, Baatsjong (which lies twenty-two days up the river from Cambodia, and 
 where the King of Cambodia had held his court fifty years before), Namnoy (where there was 
 much gold found : it lay some days short of the boundary between the two countries), Bassak, 
 Ocmum, Naewein, the town of Samfana, Beenmoek, Saymoen, Tapanom, and Lochan, a town as 
 big as Schoonhoven, governed by a sub-king from Cambodia. Also Huysoen (where there is 
 much fine silk cloth), Meunkok, a large mart for the Laos goods, and various other places. 
 
 When they reached Winkjan,J in the beginning of November, his Excellency's letter was 
 first read, to see if it was properly expressed. Being found all right, the mission was conveyed 
 to the city with great pomp in three large boats, manned each by more than forty rowers. The 
 Governor-General's letter was carried in the biggest boat on a golden salver under a gilt canopy, 
 and attended by a Prince of the country to do it honour. 
 
 They were courteously received on shore, furnished with rice and money, and it was inti- 
 mated from the King that his Majesty would give them an audience, if the Envoy would agree 
 to pay him obeisance after the fashion of the country, by approaching him holding two candles, § 
 and bowing the head three times to the ground. 
 
 * This would be equal to nearly 1160 English miles, supposing these to be Dutch miles, of which 21.725 are 
 equal to 100 English miles. Even supposing this distance to be estimated from the mouth of the river, and not 
 from the factory at Cambodia, it seems a great deal too much. Moung Luang Phaban, or Lantchian, is set down by 
 Macleod (see map in Jour. As. Soc. Ben. vi. 989), in about 17° 50'. This agrees with Pere Marini, who, on the 
 authority of Roman Catholic missionaries, says it is in 18°. Supposing Wintchian to be only half a degree south of 
 this (and it is probably much more), we should have 1160 miles of distance in 465 geographical miles of northing in a 
 river parallel to the Irawadi. Now, our course from Meaday to Amarapoora gives only 254 statute miles of distance 
 to 152 minutes of northing. The same proportion would give only 780 miles for the length of the Mekhong to 
 Wintchian, or say even 900, allowing for windings in the delta. 
 
 f According to Pere Marini, the river, in passing from Laos to Cambodia, is obstructed by such rapids, that the 
 traders are obliged to unload their boats, to carry the cargo in carts, and to drag the boats overland. This portage, 
 though for a distance of three miles only, he says occupies ten days. 
 
 One of the missionaries laid before the King a project for the construction of sluices to facilitate the traject. But 
 the King said that these obstacles were the best defence of his kingdom, and declined to take up the scheme. — Rela- 
 tion du Royaume de Lao, &c. p. 334. J Chandapoori. 
 
 § This has probably some relation to the gilt candles which form a part of the tribute from the Shan Tsaubwas 
 to the Court of Ava. — See ante, chap. xiii. 
 
376 APPENDIX. 
 
 On the reception- day six elephants were sent for them. The General's letter was carried on 
 the first elephant in a golden salver, and the party mounted on the others. They entered the 
 city through a red stone wall, which rose two or three feet over their heads as they sat on the 
 elephants, and which was surrounded by a broad ditch full of water. The streets were lined on 
 both sides by soldiers, numbering some 50,000.* After proceeding some distance they dismounted 
 from their elephants, and were conducted to tents, where they were to wait the King's summons. 
 By and by the King rode past on an elephant, attended by a train of other elephants with armed 
 officers, and a life-guard of 300 men armed with muskets and pikes, with minstrels, &c. These 
 were followed by the King's wives on sixteen elephants, anxious to see the embassy, who were 
 the first Christians who had ever appeared in that part of the world. f The King, when he had 
 gone into his tent, sent eight trays with refreshments to the Dutchmen. 
 
 At four in the afternoon they were summoned to the audience, and led across an esplanade 
 into a quadrangle surrounded by a loopholed stone wall, in the middle of which there was a large 
 pyramid, covered with gold plates, on which they said 1000 lbs. of gold had been expended. 
 The Laos people worshipped before this pyramid as before a god. 
 
 Here the presents were brought and placed before the King under the blue sky. Soon after, 
 the embassy was conducted into a great church, where the King was with his grandees, and made 
 the customary obeisance, as they had promised. The King welcomed them with much courtesy, 
 and presented the Ambassador with a golden water-cup weighing one-fifth of a cati, a parti- 
 coloured Laos cloth,! and a red badjoe § or upper garment. To each assistant he gave a cup of 
 half the weight, a cloth and a badjoe, and so on. After this there was an exhibition of the King's 
 fencers, wrestlers, jugglers, and drolls,|| and of women dancing in quaint attire and with peacocks' 
 tails in their hands.1T The whole finished with a display of fireworks. 
 
 The King was delighted with the presents, but begged that next time they would send him 
 some water-dogs, and other big dogs, cockatoos, Agra doves with peacocks' tails, (?) with different 
 kinds of rabbits, large carpets, and fine linen. 
 
 The Ambassador stayed at Winkjan till the 24th of December, 1641. The return to Cam- 
 bodia occupied three months and three weeks. 
 
 The King of the Laos was generally at peace with Cambodia, because the two countries could 
 not get on well without each other. But with the King of Pegu he was continually at war. 
 They had a great deal of trade overland with Siam. The goods came in caravans of small 
 buffalo-carts, carrying 220 catis apiece, and, having to cross high mountains, were four or five 
 months on the way, though an unhampered traveller could do it in a month, if he was not 
 hindered by the tigers which abounded on the way. They brought here (from Siam) great 
 quantities of different striped stuffs, which they exchanged for gold. 
 
 When an Ambassador came from Siam, he was treated very much like a prisoner. He 
 was forbidden to go out of his house, or to buy or sell anything, and a guard was put before 
 his house to watch him.** 
 
 They maintained a steady peace with the Emperor of China. The Chinamen came down 
 the river every two years to Meunswae, a town on the borders of Pegu,tf bringing musk 
 and fine silk. 
 
 * So this, we see, is an old usage in those regions. 
 
 f There is no allusion here to Marini's Roman Catholic missionaries, hut farther on, mention is made that in 
 1641 two Catholic Portuguese priests brought presents to the King, and endeavoured to obtain permission to diffuse 
 Christianity among the Laos, but were refused. 
 
 J "Van Caffa-bond," (?) § Putso ? \\ " Poetse makers." 
 
 U See text, p. 1 14. Nearly all the details of the reception are singularly like those of our audience at Amarapoora. 
 
 ** So at Amarapoora, to a certain extent, with us. 
 
 ft «. c. of the Shan states tributary to Pegu, or Ava rather. 
 
APPENDIX. 377 
 
 With Quinam the King was also in alliance, but with the Tsiampa (who are very wild 
 folk) both Laos and Cambodia were constantly at war. From that quarter there was a 
 large slave-trade. 
 
 The articles of trade found in Laos were these ; musk,* gold, lac, slaves, rhinoceros' 
 horns, elephants' teeth, deer and other skins, fine benzoin, silk, &c. Salt was so valuable that 
 they gave for a maas of salt a maas of gold, which they could well do, as there was much gold 
 both in the river and in the mountains above Namnoy. This place paid the King yearly ten 
 catis of gold. 
 
 Food was abundant and cheap ; there being plenty of venison, pork, and poultry, besides a 
 variety of fruits. 
 
 The King's revenue consisted chiefly of gold, lac, benzoin, and ivory. And every hundred 
 houses had to pay him yearly a quarter pound of gold. He gave a great deal of his treasure to 
 the priests for the gilding of their temples and images. 
 
 The King's forces amounted to 70 or 80,000 men. But, as they were not kept always 
 armed, he was very often invaded in the upper country by the King of Pegu. But the Peguers 
 only made a sudden incursion, carrying off what they could collect, and did not usually hold 
 their ground long. 
 
 Appendix L. 
 
 Note on the Affinities of the Indian and Burmese Styles of Architecture. 
 By James Fergussno, Esq. 
 
 So much has been said, and so well said, by Captain Yule, in the body of this work, with 
 regard to the architecture of the Burmese, that very little remains to be added as an Appendix. 
 
 The subject is, however, one of so much interest to the student of Indian antiquities, and 
 the facts and illustrations brought forward in the text are of so novel and interesting a cha- 
 racter, that any light that can be thrown upon them from any quarter cannot fail to prove 
 acceptable to those who have not had the opportunity of investigating the subject for themselves. 
 
 Before proceeding to speak of the antiquities of Burma, it will be well to recapitulate, as 
 briefly as possible, what we know of the Buddhist antiquities of India ; it being an acknow- 
 ledged fact, that both the religion and architecture of the valley of the Irawadi were borrowed 
 from the countries to the westward of that stream; — the religion literally, — the architecture, 
 with only such subsequent admixture of local peculiarities as have given it now its peculiar 
 individuality. 
 
 In India, we know of only three different kinds of Buddhist structures : — 
 
 First, the great Dagobas, or relic-shrines. These are the great domical buildings com- 
 monly known by the name of Topes, and generally erected over some sacred relic of Buddha or 
 his disciples ; but sometimes also built to commemorate some sacred spot, hallowed either by 
 the presence of Buddha himself, or by the performance of some miracle or great religious event. 
 
 At Sanchi in Bopaul, at Manickyala in the Punjaub, and at Anuradhapoora in Ceylon, they 
 
 * The existence of the musk animal among the mountains of Southern Yunan seems to indicate that these reach 
 a great elevation. 
 
 3c 
 
378 APPENDIX. 
 
 are generally great hemispherical domes placed on a low stylobate, or drum, more or less orna- 
 mented with sculpture, and are also at times surrounded by an enclosure of stone pillars. 
 
 The second class are the Chaitya Halls, which, both in form and purpose, almost exactly 
 resemble Christian churches or basilicas. They are oblong apartments, consisting of a central, 
 and two side-aisles, terminating circularly in an apse, in the centre of which is placed a 
 simulated Dagoba or stone altar, to which the priest turns in prayer, and round which the 
 processions circulate. 
 
 The third class are the Viharas, or monasteries. These, in India, are only known, like the 
 last class, by the rock-cut examples. They are generally square halls lighted from one side, 
 the windows being always protected by a verandah, and in the centre of the wall opposite to this 
 is generally placed a chapel containing an image of Buddha ; and sometimes there are two such 
 chapels containing statues of inferior personages. The two other sides of the hall are occupied 
 by the cells — the dwellings of the monks. 
 
 It is scarcely probable that any great monuments of the first class, and of the primitive 
 form, now exist in Burma. It may be that the early missionaries, who, in the first century 
 after the Christian era, first preached the doctrine of Buddhism in this country, brought with 
 them no relics of importance, and, consequently, had no object in erecting great Dagobas to 
 enshrine them ; and were, consequently, content to erect chapels and monasteries, which, being 
 of wood, have perished long ago, or, it may be, that the earlier monuments of this class are 
 encased in the more modern pagodas, as tradition tells us is the case at Rangoon and Prome, 
 and as analogy, from Indian examples, would lead us to expect everywhere.* 
 
 Bo this as it may, the only monument of this class now known is the Kong ma dan Pagoda.f 
 If this is as modern as it is asserted to be, it must be, as Captain Yule suggests, a copy from the 
 Ceylonese examples ; but whether it is so or not, it certainly is a more beautiful and appropriate 
 building than the complex spiriform edifices in which the Burmese now delight. 
 
 In earlier Indian examples, the other two classes of buildings always remained separate, but 
 in latter times a Dagoba altar was sometimes introduced into the Vihara, in place of the statue 
 of Buddha, thus apparently converting the Vihara to the purposes of a Chaitya Hall also. In 
 Burma this seems almost invariably to have been the case, and the Kyoung, or Burmese monas- 
 tery, is a great hall, with altars and images of Buddha, surrounded by cells for the residence of 
 the priests or attendants of the temple. In Burma, as in ancient India, these seem almost 
 invariably to have been of wood, and, consequently, in India, we should hardly have known 
 of their existence, and certainly have known nothing of their form, if it had not been for the 
 rock-cut examples, which reveal the internal form, but leave us entirely in ignorance as to what 
 their external appearance may have been. 
 
 The style of ornamentation in Burma is purely local ; but there is no reason for believing, 
 from such information as is available, that the general arrangements of the modern Kyoung 
 differ materially from those of the medieval Vihara. 
 
 This exhausts our knowledge of Indian architecture, but does not touch the main object of 
 interest in Captain Yule's book; for the ruined temples of Pagan are wholly without any 
 counterparts in the Buddhist architecture of India, and open up an entirely new phase in the 
 history of the style. 
 
 Had these monuments been found in India proper, they would have been assigned most 
 unhesitatingly to the Jains, and no reasoning would ever have convinced an Indian antiquary 
 that they had been Buddhist, or had any connexion with that religion. 
 
 Every Indian explorer knows how difficult it is to distinguish between one of the cross- 
 legged, flat-nosed, woolly-pated figures of the Jaina Tirthankars, and the ordinary repre- 
 
 * See note, p. 51. t P. 65. 
 
APPENDIX. 379 
 
 sentations of Gautama. Were it not for the emblems, such as an antelope or lion in the 
 pedestal, or their locality and age, the most practised eye in India might frequently mistake the 
 one for the other ; but in the architecture no such similarity has hitherto been suspected. The 
 Buddhist Ananda, at Pagan, is just such a temple as the Jaina Parisnath at Sadree,* with only 
 such differences as were necessary from the one being of brick and the other wholly of stone, 
 and the consequent difference between a vaulted and columnar style of architecture. 
 
 In fact, these Pagan temples are not Dagobas, nor Chaityas, nor Viharas ; but are as com- 
 pletely image-temples as the ordinary Dewalas of the Hindoos, and, as such, are unlike any 
 Buddhist forms farther west. It is true, indeed, that about the Christian era statues of Buddha 
 were placed in front of, or on the four faces of the Dagobas, and in the niches of the Viharas ; 
 and that they afterwards became objects of reverence, if not of worship : but in India no 
 temples seem to have been erected expressly to enshrine these images, and in which they were 
 the sole and only object of the ceremonies of the place, as seems to have been the case at Pagan. 
 
 At the time when Pagan became a capital, say from the ninth to the thirteenth century, Budd- 
 hist architecture had almost ceased to be practised in India proper ; but in Ceylon, Pollonarua 
 was built and flourished almost exactly synchronously and under similar circumstances ; and if 
 any officer would do for that city what Captain Yule has done so efficiently for Pagan, we might, 
 from comparing the illustrations, arrive at new and more correct views on the changes of 
 Buddhist architecture in that age. 
 
 At the other extreme of the empire, in Cashmere, there is a class of temples which anti- 
 quaries have generally ascribed to the Hindoos, but which were, no doubt, Buddhist temples, 
 and of the Pagan type ; but as this form was till now utterly unknown, everything like an image- 
 temple has hitherto been ascribed either to the Jains or Hindoos, but never to the Buddhists. 
 
 The only temple at all approaching those of Pagan, either in style or arrangement, which is 
 known to exist in India, is that at Buddha Gya, in Behar. Like them, it is of brick, almost the 
 only example of this known so far up the country, and it is an image-temple, though dedicated 
 to Buddha, and not unlike those at Pagan in arrangement, only that the Sikra, or spire, is 
 more important, and more like the ordinary Hindoo forms, and the porches form a less extended 
 base. The mystery of its peculiarities is, however, very much cleared up by the discovery of 
 an inscription in the Burmese character found at its base, which ascribes its erection (and I 
 have no doubt correctly) to a Burmese King in the year 1305. J 
 
 Captain Yule is, no doubt, perfectly correct in stating that the style of ornamentation of the 
 Pagan temples is derived from India. The ornamentation in the contemporary Hindoo temple, 
 known as the Black Pagoda at Canarac, is in almost every respect identical ; and so is that in the 
 buildings at Pollonarua, and still more strikingly in the Tope at Sarnath, which is coeval with 
 the Pagan buildings. As it is quite certain that the Indians did not borrow their style of orna- 
 mentation from the Burmese, it seems an inevitable consequence, when two things are so similar, 
 that the Burmese must have borrowed their style from India. 
 
 Notwithstanding the general similarity, there are local peculiarities mixed up with the style, 
 quite sufficient to give it an individuality which cannot be mistaken, and to identify its masonic 
 forms with the peculiar forms of wood-carving which are so singularly characteristic of Burmese 
 architecture. 
 
 One other prominent feature of these Pagan temples is the adoption of the Hindoo Sikra, or 
 spire, as the crowning pinnacle of each. Nothing is so essentially and characteristically Hindoo 
 as this, and its form can be traced from the early square towers of Bobaneswar to the modern 
 spires of the Benares temples, but always preserving its local character, and never, so far as I 
 
 * Handbook of Architecture, vol. i. p. 79. t Jour. As. Soc. Ben. vol. iii. p. 214. 
 
380 APPENDIX. 
 
 know, used out of India, except in this one instance ; and although very generally adopted by 
 the Jains in India, I am not aware of the Buddhists employing it in a single instance, even in 
 the country of its origin. 
 
 The Burmese style differs entirely from the Indian in one striking peculiarity, — in the 
 common and almost universal use of the pointed arch, not only in their openings, but in the 
 vaulted coverings of their passages. 
 
 Had this occurred anywhere between the Indus and the Euphrates, the existence of such a 
 form might have been looked for, and certainly would not have appeared strange, even at a very 
 much earlier date ; but as it seems an undoubted fact, that the natives of India never used the 
 arch at all before the Mahommedan conquest, and as it is not known to exist either in Ceylon or 
 Cashmere, it certainly is curious to find it so current and so perfect in a country beyond India, 
 and so far removed from Assyria and the other countries of the west, which have the credit 
 of inventing it. 
 
 It is further evident that these specimens at Pagan, though dating some of them from the 
 ninth century, are far from being the earliest examples. The style is complete and full-blown, 
 and there is no hesitation in using the circular, the flat, or pointed arch, — each exactly in the 
 place where it is most wanted, and to which our extensive experience shows that it was best 
 adapted. 
 
 The universal use of the arch in Burma arose, without doubt, from brick being the building 
 material of the country, as contradistinguished from stone and wood, which were the building 
 materials of India ; and wood is known to bo so perishable a material, especially when used with 
 masonry, as to necessitate its abandonment wherever durability is desired. 
 
 Besides those peculiarities, which are so interesting to the archaeologist and the historian of 
 art, these Pagan temples deserve the attention of the architect, from their size and the general 
 beauty of their arrangement. Nothing, for instance, can be finer than the general cruciform 
 plan of the Ananda, with the deep shadows and various perspectives which this affords ; and 
 the mode by which each successive roof rises and diminishes, preparing at last for the well- 
 proportioned culminating spire, is, as an architectural combination, equal to anything to be found 
 in the East, and not frequently surpassed by the more boasted buildings of the West. 
 
 The base of the Thupinya is, perhaps, a little overpowered by the size of its great Donjon 
 tower, and its spire is not so graceful as the last named ; but the Ganda Pala seems to hit a 
 happy mean between the two ; and although it wants the size and the four porches of the first- 
 named, it is singularly happy as an architectural composition. 
 
 It would be easy to continue these remarks to almost any extent, but enough has, I hope, 
 been said to point out the principal affinities and peculiarities of the great buildings of Pagan ; 
 and it would seem almost impertinent to say more, when so much has been done by Captain 
 Yule, as to render any remarks of mine superfluous. In concluding, however, I hope he 
 will allow me to express the gratitude which I, in common, I am sure, with every Indian 
 archaeologist, feel for what he has done in this respect. He has added a new and most valuable 
 chapter to the history of Indian art; and if other officers of like intelligence would show equal 
 zeal and industry in other parts of India, neither the history of the people nor their arts would 
 remain the uninteresting blank which has so long been the reproach of the unsympathising Saxon 
 who now rules the destinies of the Eastern world. 
 
APPENDIX. 381 
 
 Appendix M. 
 
 On the Languages spoken in Burma and the adjacent Countries. 
 
 Some of the following lists of equivalents in several of the languages spoken in Burma, have 
 been brought together from Mr. Hodgson's collections in the Journal of the Asiatic Society 
 of Bengal. But several have been added from MS. information. I am quite aware of the 
 uncertainty that attaches, more or less, to such lists, without very thorough revision by those 
 who have the opportunity and competence to perform it, and I cannot answer for this having 
 been done with all my originals; the most that I can now do being to take all care that those 
 originals shall be exactly reproduced ; but still it seems worth while to exhibit these. It is to 
 be regretted that the same system of spelling has not been adopted in all, and it would be 
 dangerous to attempt here to reduce them to a common orthography, especially as the system 
 used by some of the compilers can only be probably conjectured. 
 
 The sources of these lists are as follows : — 
 
 I. Burmese. (A) is from a list supplied to Mr. Hodgson by Major Phayre, and published 
 in the Journal of the Asiatic Society of Bengal for 1853, p. 8. This may be thoroughly 
 depended on, barring clerical or typographical errors, and comparison with the next list will 
 show that very little margin for these can remain. 
 
 (B) was kindly supplied in MS. by Captain Sparks, and was obtained from the American 
 missionaries at Rangoon. 
 
 II. Talain, M6n, or Peguan. (A) is from the same MS. source as I., B. (B) is selected 
 from several originals; viz. 1st, A list by Dr. Morton, in the paper by Mr. Hodgson just 
 referred to. Words from Dr. Morton's list have an M after them. 2d, A list kindly drawn 
 out for me by Lieut. Williams of my own corps, lately Superintendant of Survey in Pegu, with 
 the assistance of an intelligent and educated Talain employed on the survey under him. Words 
 from this list have a W after them. 3d, A list for which I have to thank the ready help of 
 another brother officer, Lieut. C. D. Newmarch, executive engineer at Maulmain. The author 
 is, I believe, the Rev. Mr. Haswell, of the American mission there. Words from this list have 
 an N after them. 
 
 III. Singpho. This list is by Mr. Bronson of the American mission in Upper Assam. It 
 is published in the J. A. S. B. XVIII. p. 969, by Mr. Hod^gson, who considers that it may be 
 depended on as correct. 
 
 IV. Sgau-Karen. (A) is from a MS. supplied like I. B. through the kind intervention 
 of Capt. Sparks, by Mr. Vinton, of the American mission at Rangoon, and may (barring clerical 
 errors) be thoroughly depended on. (B) is selected from lists obtained as noticed above by Lieuts. 
 Newmarch and Williams, and from another collected by my friend Mr. Oldham, during his 
 travels in Tenasserim. The words are marked 0, N, and W, respectively. 
 
382 APPENDIX. 
 
 V. Pivo-karen. From Mr. Vinton, like IV. A few variations are added from W. 
 
 VI. Toungthoo. From one of Dr. Morton's lists supplied to Mr. Hodgson, and published 
 in the Journal for 1853, p. 19. 
 
 VII. Munnipoori. I have not been able to find this language among Mr. Hodgson's 
 lists. The present one is taken from a large vocabulary by Lieut. Stewart, 22nd B. N. I., in 
 the Journal for 1855, p. 658. 
 
 VIII. Khyen or Khyeng. This is one of Major Phayre's lists from Hodgson, J. A. S. B. 
 1853, p. 8. It was taken in Aracan. 
 
 IX. X. XI. and XII. are all Shan dialects. IX. is from the language of the Khamtis, on the 
 borders of Assam ; X. from " Laos." This is a very vague term, but I presume it here 
 represents the Shans east of Ava. XL is Siamese. These three are from the lists by the Rev. 
 Mr. Brown of Sibsagor, published by Mr. Hodgson, in J. A. S. B. XIX. p. 311. XII. is from 
 Dr. Morton's lists in the Journal for 1853, and represents, it is presumed, the dialect of the Shans 
 settled in Tenasserim or on its borders. I have given these four in order to show the exceed- 
 ingly small variation of the language of the Shans, spread as they are over such a vast tract of 
 country, and split into so many communities, contrasting so remarkably with the Protean 
 changes of these monosyllabic languages among the wilder tribes. 
 
 The systems of spelling adopted are as follows : 
 
 1. In Major Phayre's lists (I. (A.) and VIIL). 
 
 a as in America ai as in air 
 
 i » )j in ei ,, „ mind 
 
 i „ ,, police ou „ „ ounce 
 
 u „ „ push au „ „ audience 
 
 u „ oo in foot o „ „ note 
 
 e „ in yet th „ „ thin 
 
 e „ „ there th „ aspirated t 
 
 2. In the lists by Messrs. Brown and Bronson, (III. IX. X. XL) the Italian or Jonesian 
 pronunciation of the vowels appears to be adopted. It is a pity that every one collecting such 
 lists will not make this the standard. 
 
 3. With Mr. Vinton's lists (I. (B.) II. (A.) IV. (A.) and V.) the only rules of pronunciation 
 given were, — 
 
 u to be pronounced as in flue. This seems to be used only in the Karen list. 
 
 a „ „ Wander 
 
 o „ „ Boniface 
 
 ir, er, to be pronounced as vowels, omitting the consonant ending of r. 
 
 This seems to apply to some of the Karen words. The er is, I suppose, intended to represent the 
 sound of e given in Scotland to the Greek t> and to the e in the surname Kerr. Both long and 
 short u appear to be represented by oo, and ay is sounded as in day, ee as in flee, aw as in awful, 
 ou as in bough. 
 
 4. In Lt. Williams's words and in Lt. Newmarch's the pronunciation of the vowels appears 
 to be nearly the same as in the last, an accented a being represented by ah. 
 
 5. Dr. Morton's spelling seems to be very irregular, but imitating that of English words, 
 
APPENDIX. 383 
 
 with the usual uncertainties of that practice, and sometimes even using a final mute e to modify 
 the sound of a preceding vowel, as in English. 
 6. Lt. Stewart's system is thus given : 
 
 a is pronouncec 
 
 e 
 
 i 
 
 o „ 
 
 4 » 
 
 00 „ 
 
 eu „ 
 
 ph never pronounced like/; gh and kh like the Persian Ghain and Khe : th like an aspirated 
 t, as in ho^ouse. 
 
 Of the languages given here, the Burmese, Talain, Shan, Munnipoori, and Toungthoo* are 
 written ; the two Karen dialects have been reduced to writing by the American Baptist 
 Missionaries. The others are unwritten. 
 
 * My authority for this is the following extract of a note from a gentleman of the American mission to Lieut. 
 Newmarch : — 
 
 " The Toungthoos have a written language and books, and Kyoungs and priests. I have seen their books, and 
 on the fall of Sebastopol I printed the Governor-General's proclamation for Lieut. Burn, in Toungthoo, but I con- 
 fess it was the first and only thing that has ever been printed in Toungthoo." 
 
 e a in father 
 
 a like a in man 
 
 e „ there 
 
 e „ e „ men 
 
 i „ police 
 
 i „ i „ pin 
 
 o „ note 
 
 o „ o „ not 
 
 u „ pull 
 
 u „ u „ fun 
 
 oo „ moon 
 
 ou „ ou „ bounty 
 
 eau „ beautiful 
 
 ei „ i „ mite 
 
384 
 
 List of Englisli Words with their Equivalenti 
 
 
 ] 
 
 
 
 II. 
 
 III. 
 
 
 IV. 
 
 English. 
 
 Burmese. 
 
 Talain. 
 
 Singpho. 
 
 Sgau-karen. 
 
 B. 
 
 A. {Phayre) 
 
 A. 
 
 B. 
 
 A. 
 
 B. 
 
 Air 
 
 Lay 
 
 (Le) 
 
 Kyah 
 
 Kyah. W. 
 
 Mbung 
 
 Klee 
 
 Kali. 0. 
 
 Ant 
 
 Payooet-tsiek 
 
 (Payuetseik) 
 
 Ka-mwot 
 
 Hka-mwot 
 
 Gagin 
 
 Ter 
 
 Ta-ghi-sau. 0. 
 
 Arrow 
 
 Hmya 
 
 (Mya) 
 
 Lay-yau 
 
 Lau. M. 
 
 Pela 
 
 Plah 
 
 Khli. 0. 
 
 Bird 
 
 Hnget 
 
 Nghet 
 
 Ka-tseen 
 
 Hka-tseym. W. 
 
 Wu 
 
 T6 
 
 Hto. W. Hthu. ( 
 
 Blood 
 
 Thway 
 
 Thw6 
 
 Tseen 
 
 Htsein. M. 
 
 Sai 
 
 Thwee 
 
 Athui. 0. 
 
 Boat 
 
 Hlay 
 
 The? 
 
 Ka-loun 
 
 Hlo. M. Galone. W. 
 
 Li 
 
 Klee 
 
 Hkalee. W. Hi 
 
 Bone 
 
 Ay6 
 
 Ayo 
 
 Joot 
 
 Htsot.M. Tsoot. W. 
 
 Nriing 
 
 Khee 
 
 AX-Ahui. 0. 
 
 Buffalo 
 
 Kyooay 
 
 Kyuai 
 
 Pree-eng 
 
 Parin. W. 
 
 Nga 
 
 P'nah 
 
 Pana. W. Penna 
 
 Cat 
 
 Kyoung 
 
 Kyoung 
 
 Pa-koh-wah 
 
 Hpah-ko6. W. 
 
 Ningyau 
 
 Thah-menyaw 
 
 Mengaw. 0. 
 
 Cow- 
 
 Nooa-ma 
 
 Nua 
 
 Ka-lian-boh 
 
 Karau. M. Galow. 
 W. 
 
 Kansu 
 
 Ghaw'pee 
 
 Klau. W. Ga« 
 m6. N. 
 
 Crow 
 
 Kyee-gan 
 
 Kyi 
 
 Kha-dait 
 
 Hka-tat. W. 
 
 Kokha 
 
 Sowah-khah 
 
 Tsoa-hkah. W. 
 
 Day 
 
 Nay 
 
 m 
 
 Ta-ngoo-wah 
 
 Ta-ngway. M. 
 Nyoo-ee. W. 
 
 Ningthoi 
 
 Nee 
 
 Mu-khni. 0. 
 
 Dog 
 
 Khway 
 
 Khwe 
 
 Khla 
 
 Klay. W. 
 
 Gui 
 
 'Twee 
 
 Htwee. W. 
 
 Ear 
 
 Na-yooet 
 
 Na 
 
 Ka-toh 
 
 
 Na 
 
 Nah 
 
 Na-khu. 0. 
 
 Earth 
 
 Myay 
 
 Mye 
 
 Taik 
 
 Te. M. Teet. W. 
 
 Ngga 
 
 Hawko 
 
 Hau-hko. W. 
 
 Egg 
 
 Oo 
 
 U 
 
 Ka-mai 
 
 Hkama. W. 
 
 U'di 
 
 Dee 
 
 Hdee. W. dhi. C 
 
 Elephant 
 
 Ts'hen 
 
 S'hen 
 
 Tsaine 
 
 Tseyng. W. 
 
 Magui 
 
 K'saw 
 
 Ka-saw, kahtsav 
 
 Eye 
 
 Myet-tsee 
 
 Myetsi 
 
 Mhoot 
 
 Mwot. W 
 
 Mi 
 
 Mai 
 
 M6. 0. 
 
 Father 
 
 Aphay 
 
 Pha-e 
 
 Abha 
 
 A-pah. W. Ma. M. 
 
 Wa 
 
 Pah 
 
 Bah. W. 
 
 Fire 
 
 Mee 
 
 Mi 
 
 Ka-mwot 
 
 
 Wan 
 
 Maoo 
 
 May-oo. W. Mi 
 
 Flower 
 
 Pan 
 
 Pan 
 
 Pa-kou 
 
 Kaonw. W. 
 
 Siban 
 
 'Paw 
 
 Phoh. 0. 
 
 Foot 
 
 Khyay 
 
 Khy6 
 
 Joing 
 
 Htsihn. M. Zinc. N. 
 
 Lag6ng 
 
 'Kaw 
 
 
 Goat 
 
 Ts'hiek 
 
 S'heik 
 
 Ka-bek 
 
 Hkabai. W. 
 
 Bainam 
 
 Mai tal lal 
 
 Mi-tel-leb. 0. 
 
 Hair 
 
 Tsabeng 
 
 S'haben 
 
 Tsoot 
 
 Swet. M. Thook.W. 
 
 Kara 
 
 'Ko-thoo 
 
 Kho-thu. 0. 
 
 Hand 
 
 Let 
 
 Let 
 
 Toh-wah 
 
 Tway. M. W. 
 
 Letta 
 
 Su 
 
 Tsu. 0. 
 
 Head 
 
 Goung 
 
 Ghoung 
 
 Ka-dop 
 
 Hka-tap. 
 
 Bong 
 
 'Ko 
 
 Hko. W. 
 
 Hog 
 
 Wet 
 
 Wet 
 
 Khlait 
 
 Kalet. M. 
 
 AVa 
 
 'To 
 
 Tho. 0. 
 
 Horn 
 
 Gyo 
 
 Ghyo 
 
 Paq 
 
 Kareng. M. Grce- 
 
 ung. W. 
 Kchye. W. [W. 
 
 Rung 
 
 Nir 
 
 Ner. N. Tha-na] 
 
 Horse 
 
 Myeen 
 
 Myin 
 
 Khyai 
 
 Gumrang 
 
 'K'tha 
 
 Kathay. W. Ka 
 
 House 
 
 Ieng 
 
 Eing 
 
 Hainh or Hoi 
 
 Hnyee. M. Hngeet. 
 
 Nta 
 
 He 
 
 Hhi. 0. 
 
 Iron 
 
 Than 
 
 7%an 
 
 Pa-tho-wah 
 
 Pathwe. W. 
 
 Mpri 
 
 Tah 
 
 Hta. 0. 
 
 Leaf (not dark) 
 
 A'yooet 
 
 Yuet 
 
 Ka-nah 
 
 Hlah. W. 
 
 Lap 
 
 Lah 
 
 The-la. 0. 
 
 Light 
 
 Aleng 
 
 Len 
 
 Ka-mah 
 
 [W. 
 
 Ningthoi 
 
 Tah-k'paw 
 
 Ta-go-pau. 0. 
 
 Man 
 
 Loo 
 
 Lu 
 
 Ma-nee 
 
 Karoo. M. Banee. 
 
 Singpho 
 
 Pgah-k'nyaw 
 
 Paka-nyau. W. 
 
 Monkey 
 
 Myouk 
 
 Myouk 
 
 Ka-now-wee 
 
 Kanwee. M. W. 
 
 Woe 
 
 Taheu 
 
 Tao. W. Tahoo, 
 
 Moon 
 
 La 
 
 La 
 
 Katou 
 
 Katoh. W. 
 
 Sita 
 
 Lah 
 
 Lhah. 0. 
 
 Mother 
 
 Amay 
 
 Ami (Ame ?) 
 
 Amai 
 
 
 Nu 
 
 Mo 
 
 A-mo. N. 0. 
 
 Mountain 
 
 Toung 
 
 Toung 
 
 Doe 
 
 Hde 
 
 Bum 
 
 'K'sir 
 
 Kutchcho. 0. 
 
 Mouth 
 
 Pa-zat 
 
 N'hup 
 
 Pauh 
 
 Pan 
 
 Ninggup 
 
 'Tah-'ko 
 
 
 Musquito 
 
 Khyin 
 
 Khyin 
 
 Ka-mheet 
 
 Hkameek. W. N. 
 
 Tsigrong 
 
 Pso 
 
 PeUso. 0. 
 
 Name 
 
 Namee 
 
 Ami 
 
 Yd-moo 
 
 
 Ming 
 
 Mee 
 
 Amyee. W. Am 
 
 Night 
 
 Ngya 
 
 Nya 
 
 Pa-toung 
 
 Pataum. N. 
 
 Sina 
 
 Nah 
 
 Pathi. 0. 
 
 Oil 
 
 Ts'hee [thee 
 
 S'hi 
 
 Khloing 
 
 
 Nam fin 
 
 Tho 
 
 
 Plantain 
 
 Hnep-pyau- 
 
 Nghet-pyo 
 
 Phrat 
 
 
 Lungu 
 
 Thquee 
 
 Thakwee. W. 
 
 River 
 
 Myeet 
 
 Myit 
 
 Bhee 
 
 Bee. W. N. 
 
 Kha 
 
 'Tee-'klo 
 
 Klo. W. hnau. 
 
 Road 
 
 Lan 
 
 Lam 
 
 Khlaung 
 
 
 Lam 
 
 'Klai 
 
 Khl6. 0. 
 
 Salt 
 
 Ts'ha 
 
 S'ha 
 
 Bhau 
 
 P6.M.Buh.N. 
 
 Jum 
 
 Eethah 
 
 
 Skin 
 
 Ayay 
 
 Thaye 
 
 Nham 
 
 Hnam.W. S'nam.N. 
 Nan. M. 
 
 Phi 
 
 Tah-'pee 
 
 A-ph6. 0. 
 
 Sky 
 
 Mo-koung-gin 
 
 M6 
 
 Ta-kha 
 
 Mu 
 
 Moo'k'polo 
 
 Moohko. W. 
 
 Snake 
 
 Myooay 
 
 Myu6 
 
 Thoom 
 
 Soom. W. Sroom. N. 
 
 Lapu 
 
 Ghu 
 
 Gu. N. Mgu. 
 
 Star 
 
 Kyay 
 
 Kyai (Ky6 1) 
 
 Nhoung 
 
 Noung. M. Hnoung. 
 W. S'nong. N. 
 
 Sigan 
 
 Ts-ah 
 
 Htsah. W. Chs 
 
 Stone 
 
 Kyouk 
 
 Kyouk 
 
 Ka-inho 
 
 K'mau. N. 
 
 Nlung 
 
 Ler 
 
 Hlui. 0. 
 
h>e of the Languages of Burma and its Borders. 
 
 385 
 
386 
 
 List of English Words with their Equivalent 
 
 
 I. 
 
 
 II. 
 
 III. 
 
 
 IV. 
 
 English. 
 
 Burmese. 
 
 Talain. 
 
 Singpho. 
 
 Sgau-lcaren. 
 
 B. 
 
 A. (Phayre) 
 
 A. 
 
 B. 
 
 A. 
 
 B. 
 
 Sun 
 
 Nay 
 
 N6 
 
 Ta-ngowah 
 
 Tangway. M. Nyu- 
 
 wa. W. 
 Kala. M. Kla. W. 
 
 Jan 
 
 Mu 
 
 Muh. 0. 
 
 Tiger 
 
 Kya 
 
 Kya 
 
 Khlat 
 
 Sir6ng 
 
 Bautho 
 
 Ka. N. Butho, 1 
 
 Tooth 
 
 Thwa 
 
 Thwa. 
 
 Ngaet 
 
 Nget. M. Gniiut. N 
 
 Wa 
 
 Mai 
 
 
 Tree 
 
 Theet-peng 
 
 Apen 
 
 Ka-noung-tsoo 
 
 Kanoung. M. 
 
 Phun 
 
 Thay 
 
 
 Village 
 
 Yooa 
 
 Yua 
 
 Khwon 
 
 Koh. M. Kwan. W. 
 
 Mereng 
 
 Twau 
 
 Kau. 0. 
 
 Water 
 
 Yay 
 
 Ye 
 
 Daik [waih 
 
 Tdat. W. 
 
 Ntsin 
 
 'Tee 
 
 Hteee. W. Thi. 
 
 Yam 
 
 Myouk-khoung 
 
 Myouk 
 
 Ka-dop Kh- 
 
 Ka-wa. W. 
 
 Nai 
 
 Nwal 
 
 Noe. 0. 
 
 I 
 
 Kyen6k 
 
 Nga 
 
 Wa-doit 
 
 Awai. M. Owa. W. 
 
 Ngai 
 
 Yah 
 
 Ya. 0. 
 
 Thou 
 
 Meng 
 
 Men or Nen 
 
 Moing 
 
 Bai. M. Mna-er. N. 
 
 Nang, Ni 
 
 Nah 
 
 Tha. 0. 
 
 He 
 
 She 
 We 
 
 Thoo 
 
 Thh 
 
 Nyeea 
 
 Nya-er. N. 
 
 KM 
 
 Awai 
 
 Au. N. 
 
 Kyenok-d6 
 
 Nga-do 
 
 Pwai-daik-toh 
 
 Pooey. N. 
 
 I' 
 
 P'wal 
 
 Pgha. N. 
 
 Ye 
 
 Meng- do 
 
 Men-do 
 
 Pai-tah 
 
 ■« 
 
 
 Nitheng 
 
 Thu 
 
 
 They 
 
 Thoo-do 
 
 Thu-do 
 
 Nyeea-toh 
 
 
 
 Khini 
 
 A'waltha 
 
 Ya-we-da. 0. 
 
 Mine 
 
 Kyenok ee 
 
 Ngai 
 
 Karom-pwai- 
 daih 
 
 
 The possessive 
 indicated only by 
 
 Ng6na 
 
 Y'waldah 
 
 
 Thine 
 
 Meng-ee 
 
 Menl 
 
 Krom-pai 
 
 
 ^tho thing posses- 
 
 Nana 
 
 N'waldah 
 
 
 His 
 
 Thoo-ee 
 
 TMa. 
 
 Krom-nyeea 
 
 
 r sed being placed 
 
 Zhina 
 
 A'waidah 
 
 
 Ours 
 
 Kyen6k-do-ee 
 
 Ngadoi 
 
 Kro-pohy 
 
 
 before the pos- 
 
 
 P'waklah 
 
 
 Yours 
 
 Mcng-do-ee 
 
 Men-doi 
 
 Kro-pai-toh 
 
 
 sessor. N. 
 
 
 Thuwaldah 
 
 
 Theirs 
 
 Thoo-do-ee 
 
 Thu-doi 
 
 Krom-nyeea- 
 toh 
 
 
 
 
 Awaitha-wal- 
 dah 
 
 
 One 
 
 Teet 
 
 Tit 
 
 Moowah 
 
 
 Aima 
 
 Ter 
 
 Tah- AV. Hta. ( 
 
 Two 
 
 Hneet 
 
 Nhit 
 
 Pha 
 
 Bah. W. N. 
 
 Nkhong 
 
 'Kee 
 
 Khee. W. 
 
 Three 
 
 Thong 
 
 Thon 
 
 Phaik 
 
 Peh. W. Pee. N. 
 
 Mastim 
 
 Ther 
 
 Theh. W. Th6. 
 
 Four 
 
 Lay 
 
 Le 
 
 Phon 
 
 Paun. W. N. [N. 
 
 Meli 
 
 Lwee 
 
 
 Five 
 
 Nga 
 
 Nga. 
 
 Pa-thoun 
 
 Patson. W. P'sone. 
 
 Mangd 
 
 Yal 
 
 
 Six 
 
 Khyouk 
 
 Khyouk 
 
 Ka-row 
 
 Trou. N. [N. 
 
 Kr6 
 
 Khti 
 
 
 Seven 
 
 Khooueet 
 
 Khun-nhit 
 
 Ka-poh 
 
 Hkapau.W.T'pauh. 
 
 Sinit 
 
 Nwee 
 
 
 Eight 
 
 Sheet 
 
 Shyit 
 
 Ka-tsan 
 
 Hka-tsam. W. 
 T'chan. N. 
 
 MatsAt 
 
 Kho 
 
 Hkau. W. 
 
 Nine 
 
 K6 
 
 Ko 
 
 Ka-tsee 
 
 Hka-tseet. W. 
 Tcheet. N. 
 
 Tsekhti 
 
 Kwee 
 
 Hkwee. W. 
 
 Ten 
 
 Tats'hay 
 
 S'hai (S'he X) 
 
 Tsau 
 
 Sau. W. Chaw. N. 
 
 Si 
 
 T'see (one-ten) 
 
 Tatsee. W, 
 
 Eleven 
 
 Tats'hay-teet 
 
 
 Tsau-mwa 
 
 Saumwah. W. 
 
 
 Tsee-ter (ten- 
 
 Ta-tsee-ta. W. 
 
 Twelve 
 
 Tuts'hay-hneet 
 
 
 Tsau-phft 
 
 Sau-Bah. W. 
 
 
 Tsee-"hee" 
 (ten-two) 
 
 Ta-tsee-khec. \ 
 
 Twenty 
 
 Hna-ts'hay ] 
 
 Nhits'hai 
 (NhiWhe ?) 
 
 Pha-tso 
 
 Batsoh. W. 
 
 Khtin 
 
 Kee-see (two 
 tens) 
 
 Khce-tsee. W. 
 
 Thirty 
 
 Thong-zay 
 
 Thon-s'hai 
 (Thon-s'he 1) 
 
 Paik-tso 
 
 Pee-tsoh. W. Pee- 
 chaw. N. 
 
 Tumsi 
 
 Thutsee 
 
 Theh-tsec. W. 
 
 Forty 
 
 Lay-zay 
 
 Lezhai 
 (Leslie" ?) 
 
 Poien-tso 
 
 Paun-tsoh. W. 
 
 Mlisi 
 
 Lweesee 
 
 
 
 Fifty 
 
 Nga-zay 
 
 Ngazhai 
 Nga-s'he ?) 
 
 Pa-soun-tso 
 
 Pa-tson-tsoh. W. 
 
 Mangdsi 
 
 Yafeu 
 
 Yay-tscc. W. 
 
 Hundred 
 
 Ta-ya 
 
 Taya 
 
 Khloun 
 
 K16m.W.Klaun.N. 
 
 Latsa 
 
 Tk'zah 
 
 Tagayah. W. 
 
 Thousand 
 
 Ta-htoung 
 
 
 Ngeen 
 
 Ngeem. W. 
 
 
 Tk'to 
 
 Taga-hto. W. 
 
 Of 
 
 Ee 
 
 
 I 
 
 Aou 
 
 
 Na (affix) 
 
 Bah-khah 
 
 Ah. N. 
 
 From 
 
 Ga 
 
 § 
 o 
 
 a 
 
 Ga 
 
 Atai 
 
 Noo-kar. N. 
 
 
 Ler 
 
 
 To 
 
 Tho 
 
 
 A' 
 
 Haut 
 
 Too-kar. N. 
 
 Pe 
 
 Soo ■ [ (near) 
 
 
 By 
 
 Hpyen 
 
 O 
 
 Phyen 
 
 Enau 
 
 Nacr-kar. N. 
 
 
 A'ghaw'tec 
 
 
 With 
 
 Hncn 
 
 T3 
 
 Nhen 
 
 Pha 
 
 
 
 Daw 
 
 A-tho. N. 
 
 Without 
 
 May 
 
 
 
 
 Ootseen 
 
 
 
 
 
 In 
 
 lima 
 
 ^ 
 
 Nheik 
 
 Ah-dowa 
 
 
 Katai 
 
 A' poo 
 
 
 1 On 
 
 Pau-hma 
 
 
 Bomha 
 
 Atau 
 
 A-too. W. L'too. N. 
 
 Lctha 
 
 A'paw'ko 
 
 
me of the Languages of Burma and its Borders. 
 
 387 
 
 V. 
 
 VI. 
 
 VII. 
 
 VIII. 
 
 IX. 
 
 X. 
 
 XL 
 
 XII. 
 
 Wco-lcaren. 
 
 Toungthoo. M. 
 
 Munnipoori. 
 
 Khyen. 
 
 Khamti. 
 
 Laos. 
 
 Siamese. 
 
 Shan (taken in 
 
 
 
 (Stuart.) 
 
 (I' hay re). 
 
 (Shan.) 
 
 (Shan.) 
 
 (Shan.) 
 
 Tenasserim). 
 
 Bo-mai 
 
 Mu 
 
 Nuniit 
 
 Ko-nhi 
 
 "Wan 
 
 Kangwan 
 
 Tawan 
 
 Kawon 
 
 hay 
 
 Ka 
 
 Kei 
 
 Kyi 
 
 Su 
 
 Seu 
 
 Sua 
 
 Htso 
 
 ai 
 
 Ta-gna 
 
 Ya 
 
 Ka-hau 
 
 Khiu 
 
 Khiau 
 
 Fan, Khiau 
 
 Khyo 
 
 bfling 
 
 Thing-mu 
 
 Upal 
 
 Thin 
 
 Tun 
 
 Ton 
 
 Ton 
 
 Ton 
 
 
 Dung 
 
 Khul 
 
 Nam 
 
 Man 
 
 Ban 
 
 Ban 
 
 Mann 
 
 
 H'tee 
 
 Ishing 
 
 Tu-i 
 
 Nam 
 
 Nam 
 
 Nam 
 
 Nan 
 
 wa 
 
 Nwa 
 
 Ha 
 
 Ba-ha 
 
 Man 
 
 Hoaman 
 
 Mandom 
 
 Ho-mau 
 
 er 
 
 Khwa 
 
 Ei 
 
 Kyi 
 
 Kau 
 
 O'ng-ku 
 
 Kha 
 
 Koung 
 
 er 
 
 Na 
 
 Nung 
 
 Nang 
 
 Mail 
 
 Toa 
 
 Tua, Miing 
 
 Moung 
 
 r 
 
 Wa 
 
 Ma 
 
 Ni 
 
 Man 
 
 Man, Tan 
 
 Khon, Man 
 
 Khoung-nick 
 
 'wee-dah 
 
 m 
 
 Eikhoi 
 
 Kin-ni 
 
 Hau 
 
 Hau 
 
 Rau 
 
 Koung-niht 
 
 fcee-dah 
 
 Na-the 
 
 Nungkhoi 
 
 Nang-ni 
 
 Maii-sti 
 
 
 Su 
 
 Htsooh-niht 
 
 ftee-way 
 
 Wa-the 
 
 Makhoi 
 
 Ni-di or Ni-li 
 
 Man-khau 
 
 
 Khruarai 
 
 Mau-niht 
 
 3ra-dah 
 
 
 Eigi 
 
 Ki-ko 
 
 
 
 
 
 Bra- dah 
 
 
 Nunggi 
 
 Nang-ko 
 
 
 
 
 
 wa-dah 
 
 
 Magi 
 
 Ni-ko 
 
 
 
 
 
 ka-dah 
 
 
 Eikhoigi 
 
 Ki-ni-ko 
 
 
 
 
 
 Ihee-wa-dab 
 
 
 Nungkhoigi 
 
 Nang-ni-ko 
 
 
 
 
 
 thee-wa-dah 
 
 
 Makhoigi 
 
 Ni-di-ko. 
 
 
 
 
 
 ung 
 
 Ta 
 
 Am a 
 
 Nhat 
 
 Nung 
 
 Nung 
 
 Niing 
 
 Nein 
 
 e 
 
 Ne 
 
 Ani 
 
 Pan-nhi 
 
 Song 
 
 Song 
 
 Song 
 
 Htsoung 
 
 hung 
 
 Thung 
 
 Ahoom 
 
 Thum 
 
 Sam 
 
 Sam 
 
 Sam 
 
 Htsan 
 
 ee 
 
 Leet 
 
 Mari 
 
 Lhi 
 
 Sf 
 
 Si 
 
 Si 
 
 Htse 
 
 ea 
 
 Ngat 
 
 Maiiga 
 
 Nghau 
 
 Ha 
 
 Ha 
 
 Ha 
 
 Ha 
 
 hoo 
 
 Ther 
 
 Tartik 
 
 Sauk 
 
 Hok 
 
 Hok 
 
 H6k 
 
 Hoht 
 
 ■waee 
 
 Nwot 
 
 Taret 
 
 S'hfi 
 
 Tset 
 
 Tset 
 
 Tset 
 
 Tseet 
 
 ho 
 
 That 
 
 Nipal 
 
 Sat 
 
 Pet 
 
 Pet 
 
 P6t 
 
 Tet 
 
 wee 
 
 Koot 
 
 Mapal 
 
 Ko 
 
 Kau 
 
 Kau 
 
 Kau 
 
 Kowt 
 
 tsee 
 
 Tah-si 
 
 Tara 
 
 Ha 
 
 Sip 
 
 Sip 
 
 Sip 
 
 Tseit 
 
 'tsee-lung 
 
 
 Tard-ma-thoi 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 'tsee-nec 
 
 
 Tara-ni-thoi 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Be-tsee 
 
 He 
 
 Kool 
 
 Kiir 
 
 Sau 
 
 Sau-niing 
 
 Ye-sip 
 
 Htsoung 
 
 .lung-tseo 
 
 Thung (?) 
 
 Kunthra 
 
 Tun-gip 
 
 Sam sip 
 
 Sam sip 
 
 Sam sip 
 
 Htsan-htsiet 
 
 WB-tsec 
 
 Leet (?) 
 
 Niphoo 
 
 Lhi-gip 
 
 Si sip 
 
 Si sip 
 
 Si sip 
 
 Htse-htsiet 
 
 Ba-tsee 
 
 Ngat (?) 
 
 Yang khai 
 
 Nghau-gip 
 
 Ha sip 
 
 Ha sip 
 
 Hd sip 
 
 Ha-htsiet 
 
 yah 
 
 Ta-loy-eu 
 
 Cham a 
 
 Kla-at 
 
 Pak 
 
 Hoi 
 
 Eoi 
 
 Hpat 
 
 taung 
 
 
 Lising ama 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 «• (as of 
 
 A 
 
 
 
 
 
 Thi 
 
 
 whom) 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 >r (as from 
 
 A 
 
 Digi 
 
 
 Hang, Ti 
 
 
 Ke 
 
 
 ■the city) 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 iu [by) 
 
 En 
 
 Da 
 
 A 
 
 Luk 
 
 
 T6 
 
 Kohn 
 
 fh-k6h (near 
 
 Tome 
 
 Na 
 
 La 
 
 
 
 
 
 U 
 
 
 Loi nit na 
 
 Yung 
 
 
 
 Duei 
 
 Han 
 
 ir-koung 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Mai 
 
 fe-pung 
 
 Pu 
 
 Da 
 
 Ddka 
 
 Kannii 
 
 Nai 
 
 Nai 
 
 Kanoung 
 
 paingoo 
 
 Long 
 
 Thuk 
 
 Ha-nang 
 
 Nau 
 
 Neu 
 
 Bon 
 
 Kanouk 
 
388 
 
 List of English Words with their Equivalenti 
 
 
 
 I. 
 
 
 11. 
 
 III. 
 
 
 IV. 
 
 English. 
 
 Burmese. 
 
 Talain. 
 
 Singpho. 
 
 Sga 
 
 u-haren. 
 
 B. 
 
 A. {Phayre) 
 
 A. 
 
 B. 
 
 A. 
 
 B. 
 
 Now 
 
 Yakhoo 
 
 Yakhu 
 
 Ka-moo 
 
 L'mooh. N. 
 
 Ya 
 
 Kaikinaee 
 
 Kaikane. N. 
 
 Then 
 
 Ht6-akha 
 
 Tho-akha 
 
 Pa-toka-moo 
 
 Pdou-kala-kauh. N. 
 
 
 T'unuts'u 
 
 
 When 
 
 Thau-akha 
 
 Bhe<Ao-kha 
 
 Ma-tsee-lau- 
 
 Moo-chee-loh. N. 
 
 Yango 
 
 Tu 
 
 Kai-lai. N. 
 
 To-day 
 
 Yanay 
 
 Yane 
 
 row 
 Ngwai-noh 
 
 • 
 
 Daini 
 
 M"sah 
 
 M'tsaee. N. 
 
 To-morrow 
 
 Neppan 
 
 Net-phan 
 
 Noo-yai 
 
 Yeh. W. 
 
 Mphoni 
 
 'Kaighaw - 
 
 .... 
 
 Yesterday 
 
 Manayga 
 
 Ya-mann6 
 
 Lek-ka-nai 
 
 La-ka-neh. W. 
 
 Man! 
 
 M'hah 
 
 .... 
 
 Here 
 
 Thee-hma 
 
 7%imha 
 
 Anoh 
 
 Eenaw. N. 
 
 Nade 
 
 'Palee 
 
 .... 
 
 There 
 
 Hohma 
 
 Homha 
 
 Ahtai 
 
 Eeta. N. 
 
 Tode 
 
 'Paina 
 
 .... 
 
 Where 1 
 
 Bay-hma 
 
 Bhemha. 
 
 Ah-lau-row 
 
 .... 
 
 Gadegui 
 
 'Pal lal 
 
 .... 
 
 Above 
 
 Apau-hma 
 
 Apomha 
 
 Ah-lau-tai 
 
 
 
 Ning tsang 
 
 A,'pawko 
 
 
 Below 
 
 Ouk-hma 
 
 Ouk mha 
 
 Ah-mho-noh 
 
 Ahmau. W. S'mau. 
 
 N. 
 Akra. N. 
 
 Katiii 
 
 A/pawlah 
 
 
 
 Between 
 
 Tsat-kya-hma 
 
 Akya mha 
 
 Ah-khra-ka-ril 
 
 
 A,bersir 
 
 .... 
 
 Without 
 
 Apyin-hnia 
 
 Pyen mha 
 
 Ma-ngai 
 
 Mngaer. N. 
 
 .... 
 
 A,klor 
 
 Ler-ko. N. 
 
 Within 
 
 Ahlay-hma 
 
 Atwen 
 
 Ah-dowa 
 
 Adwah. W. 
 
 .... 
 
 A,poo 
 
 Len-poo. N. 
 
 Far 
 
 Way-thau 
 
 W6 
 
 Ngoowd 
 
 Nyoo-wa. W. 
 
 Tsan 
 
 Yeezee 
 
 Yee. N. 
 
 Near 
 
 Nee-thau 
 
 Ni 
 
 Tsaik 
 
 ■ • • • 
 
 Ni 
 
 Boo 
 
 
 Little 
 
 Ngay-thau 
 
 Seikkhale" (?) 
 
 Dwot 
 
 Dote. N. 
 
 Katsi 
 
 'See'koo 
 
 Tse. N. Atj he. 
 
 Much 
 
 Mya-thau 
 
 Mya 
 
 Kloung 
 
 Hbau.M.Klung.N. 
 
 Lo 
 
 Ahmah 
 
 Ah. N. 
 
 How much 1 
 
 Bay-louk 
 
 Bhelouk 
 
 Ma-tsee-row 
 
 
 Gadema 
 
 "Sce-ah-lai 
 
 Tse-ah. N. 
 
 Thus 
 
 Thee-nee 
 
 The-ne 
 
 Nwai-noh 
 
 .... 
 
 Ndaisat 
 
 De-ee 
 
 De-nay 
 
 How? 
 
 Bay-hnay 
 
 Bhe-tho 
 
 Kala-row 
 
 
 ... 
 
 Dee-lal 
 
 .... 
 
 Why? 
 
 Bay-hnay- 
 gyoung 
 
 Bh6-pyulo 
 
 Moo-tau-kla- 
 row 
 
 Moo-dau. W. 
 
 Fari 
 
 M'nulai 
 
 Mu-lai. N. 
 
 Yea 
 
 Hok-khay 
 
 Hokhe 
 
 Daum 
 
 Yo. W. Yooh. W. 
 
 Raia 
 
 Ma-lee 
 
 Ma. N. Meye. 0. 
 
 No, not 
 
 Ma-h6k-boo 
 
 Mahok 
 
 Ooshing 
 
 [kop 
 
 Hatsen. M. Au- 
 theng. W. Hoo- 
 
 saung. N. 
 
 •Galai, ng 
 phung 
 
 Tmabah 
 
 Tho-mi-bah. 0. 
 
 And, also 
 
 Leegoung 
 
 Ligoung 
 
 Neai-noowa- 
 
 .... 
 
 .... 
 
 Daw, sa-'kaw 
 
 Dau. N. 
 
 Or 
 
 Tho-ma-hok 
 
 Thomahok 
 
 Ha-tho-then 
 
 .... 
 
 .... 
 
 Magha 
 
 Ma-t-ma. N. 
 
 This 
 
 Thee 
 
 I', Thi 
 
 Anoh 
 
 .... 
 
 Ndai 
 
 Tah-ee 
 
 .... 
 
 That 
 
 Hto 
 
 Th6, ho 
 
 Eno 
 
 Akau. W. Kauh. N. 
 
 Orawa 
 
 Tahnu 
 
 A-na. N. 
 
 Which 
 
 Bay-theng 
 
 Abhe 
 
 Ela-row 
 
 
 
 Gadenua 
 
 Lir lal 
 
 [lal 
 M'tah-tghah- 
 
 Pai-lai-ga-lai. N. 
 
 Who 
 
 Bay-thoo 
 
 BhedM 
 
 Nhea-ko-row 
 
 
 Gadaima 
 
 
 Eat 
 
 Tsa 
 
 Sa 
 
 Tsee 
 
 Tseet 
 
 Shau 
 
 Anw 
 
 Au. NW. Auh. 
 
 Drink 
 
 Thouk 
 
 TAo-dk 
 
 Thoung 
 
 Thone.W.SoongN. 
 
 Luu 
 
 Owr-au 
 
 Auh. 0. 
 
 Sleep 
 
 Iek 
 
 Eik 
 
 Toik 
 
 Tayke. W. Hling. 
 N. Tet. M. 
 
 Yiipu 
 
 Mee 
 
 Mih. 0. 
 
 Wake 
 
 No 
 
 No 
 
 Ngoo 
 
 Dumu 
 
 'Pu-theenaw 
 
 .... 
 
 Smoke 
 
 Thouk 
 
 .... 
 
 Thoung 
 
 .... 
 
 
 Tah-'kee 
 
 
 Laugh 
 
 Yay 
 
 Ye 
 
 Kraieng 
 
 Garihn. M. Krung. 
 
 N. 
 Ran. M. Yehm. W. 
 
 Maniu 
 
 Ne 
 
 Nih. 0." 
 
 Weep 
 
 Ngo 
 
 Ngo 
 
 Yaun 
 
 Khrapu 
 
 Haw 
 
 Hauh. 0. 
 
 Be silent 
 
 Htiek 
 
 Teik-sheik-n6 
 
 Ka-nop 
 
 Kanouk. M. 
 
 Temdingau 
 
 Obwah 
 
 
 Speak 
 
 Pyau 
 
 Pyo, s'ho 
 
 Horn 
 
 Ham. N. 
 
 Sriu 
 
 K'to- 
 
 Ta-thu-thah. 0. 
 
 Come 
 
 La 
 
 La, youk 
 
 Kloung 
 
 Klom. W. 
 
 S;iu 
 
 Hai 
 
 .... 
 
 Go 
 
 Thwa 
 
 Thwa 
 
 Ah 
 
 .... 
 
 Wan 
 
 Lal 
 
 Le. 0. 
 
 Stand up 
 
 Yat 
 
 Tha, Mat 
 
 Dau 
 
 K'tah. N. 
 
 Tsapu, Rotu 
 
 'Ser-ter 
 
 Tshe-thu. 0. 
 
 Sit down 
 
 Htaing 
 
 Thaing 
 
 Ka-tsau 
 
 K'cho. N. 
 
 Diingu 
 
 'Sanaw 
 
 Tshe-noh. 0. 
 
 More 
 
 Hlok [thwa 
 
 L6, kyud 
 
 Khee 
 
 . • • 
 
 Thotu 
 
 Ghal 
 
 .... 
 
 Walk 
 
 Khyay-gyin- 
 
 .... 
 
 Ah-taik 
 
 Kwaik. N. 
 
 Damn 
 
 Laitah 
 
 .... 
 
 Run 
 
 Pyay 
 
 Pye 
 
 Khreet 
 
 Krape. N. 
 
 Gagatu 
 
 Kha 
 
 Hkhu. 0. 
 
 Give 
 
 Pay 
 
 Pe 
 
 Kah 
 
 Kay. W. 
 
 Ydu 
 
 Halaw 
 
 Ha. N. 
 
• 
 
 \ne of the Languages of Burma and its Borders. 
 
 
 
 389 
 
 V. 
 
 VI. 
 
 VII. 
 
 VIII. 
 
 IX. 
 
 X. 
 
 XL 
 
 XII. 
 
 rwo-karen. 
 
 Toungthoo. M. 
 
 Munnipoori. 
 
 Khyen. 
 
 Khamti. 
 
 Laos. 
 
 Siamese. 
 
 Shan (taken in 
 
 
 
 (Stuart?) 
 
 (Phayre) 
 
 (Shan.) 
 
 (Shan.) 
 
 (Shan.) 
 
 Tenasserim). 
 
 bgniaug- 
 
 Nga-khayen 
 
 Huchik 
 
 Tu-a 
 
 Tsang, Ngai 
 
 Leng 
 
 Reu, Thanchai 
 
 May6h-nihn 
 
 i'oo Ll )un S 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 bngnaut- 
 
 Moung-ma 
 
 Asai 
 
 Nikho-a 
 
 .... 
 
 
 Miia 
 
 Chyain-hnigh 1 
 
 ung 
 
 Teu-ma 
 
 Horen 
 
 I'kho-a 
 
 
 
 
 Miia Hai 
 
 Chyain-lu 
 
 lee-yoo 
 
 Han-n6 
 
 Ashi 
 
 Tun-ap 
 
 
 Wanni 
 
 Wanni 
 
 Ma-hniht 
 
 y-ghau-koh 
 
 Mureu 
 
 Arang 
 
 Nhat-ta 
 
 Maph6k 
 
 Phuk 
 
 Phrungni 
 
 Ma-hpot 
 
 •:-moo-gah 
 
 Md-ha 
 
 Hai yeng 
 
 Yam-tti 
 
 Mangd 
 
 • • . > 
 
 Wa,Wan 
 
 Ma-wa 
 
 ang-yoo 
 
 Yo 
 
 Asida 
 
 !Ni-am 
 
 Phe, Thai 
 
 Ni 
 
 Ni 
 
 Kaniht 
 
 ang-nau 
 
 Ea-hsu 
 
 Asomda 
 
 Tsu-d 
 
 Hanpun 
 
 .... 
 
 Tin nau 
 
 Kapo 
 
 mig-lay 
 
 Eu-hmay 
 
 Keida 
 
 I'-ni-am 
 
 Thaii 
 
 Tinai 
 
 Thi nai 
 
 Kalau 
 
 '.•-tah, or A'- 
 
 En-ke 
 
 Mathuk 
 
 Adarnaka 
 
 Kanlu • 
 
 Pin 
 
 B6n 
 
 Pamon 
 
 >angkoo 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 >unglah 
 
 En-la 
 
 Makha 
 
 Dekan 
 
 
 
 Lum 
 
 Ti 
 
 Palon 
 
 pong-tsung 
 
 Ak-ha 
 
 Moyaida 
 
 Alhdkaku 
 
 
 
 Wang 
 
 Akhun 
 
 1 "-kaung 
 
 Tah'tanu 
 
 Mapdl 
 
 Kldngdme 
 
 . . • • 
 
 .... 
 
 Thinok 
 
 Kanouk 
 
 1 -a-pung 
 
 En-pu 
 
 Yimung 
 
 Du-gdme 
 
 Tinau 
 
 .... 
 
 Thinai 
 
 Kanoung 
 
 ing 
 
 Hyd 
 
 Arapa 
 
 Tsu-a a-lhau 
 
 Kai 
 
 Kai 
 
 Kli 
 
 An-kehn 
 
 l 
 
 Lau 
 
 Nugle 
 
 iLIHC 
 
 A-shyo-zo-yan 
 
 Kau 
 
 Kai 
 
 Klai 
 
 An-san 
 
 i-pu 
 
 Pa 
 
 Ydmde 
 
 A-ldkchdi 
 
 Lek, Kye 
 
 .... 
 
 Lcknoi 
 
 Aeet 
 
 • -mah 
 
 A 
 
 Yame 
 
 Apdluk 
 
 Nam 
 
 Nak, Lai 
 
 Lai, Bunda 
 
 Taima 
 
 ,i-ah-lai 
 
 Kheing hmay 
 
 .... 
 
 Hyau-um 
 
 .... 
 
 Kilam 
 
 Ki-lem 
 
 Hta-noung 
 
 ree 
 
 Nay-y6 
 
 Asundowna 
 
 .... 
 
 Nang-nai 
 
 ■ ■ • • 
 
 Yang-nan,Chen 
 
 Tso-na-youk 
 
 thelay 
 
 .... 
 
 Kurumtauna 
 
 T'bau 
 
 .... 
 
 . • . • 
 
 Thau, Phrd het 
 
 Tso-hoo 
 
 ilai 
 
 Htway-may 
 
 Karigi tumuk 
 
 I-na-to-dm 
 
 
 
 .... 
 
 Phi-d-aurai 
 
 Pen-hts-u 
 
 •ai 
 
 Mwa 
 
 Hoi 
 
 A-hi 
 
 Tsau [Tak 
 
 Tsai, Men 
 
 Khd 
 
 Htsouk-hee 
 
 lai-aee 
 
 Ta-mwa-tew 
 
 Nate 
 
 Hi-a, N6-6 
 
 Ma-tsau, Le, 
 
 Bo-tsai, Bo, 
 
 Michi, Mi, Ya 
 
 Ma-tsouk 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 [Mai, Ya 
 
 
 
 
 La 
 
 Sting, amasdlei 
 
 .... 
 
 
 Le 
 
 Le, Kap, Tak 
 
 
 ! i'Mwaibah 
 
 .... 
 
 • ■ * . 
 
 .... 
 
 ■ • ■ . 
 
 .... 
 
 .... 
 
 .... 
 
 I °" 
 
 Yo 
 
 Ashi 
 
 Ni 
 
 Annai 
 
 Ni 
 
 Ni 
 
 Tso-n'iht 
 
 au 
 
 Ta-hlon 
 
 Adu 
 
 Oni 
 
 Annan 
 
 Nan 
 
 Nan 
 
 Tso-nan 
 
 \ hi 
 
 Lisa-may-nay 
 
 Kuri 
 
 I'-ni-aka 
 
 An-naii 
 
 
 
 Khon-dai 
 
 An-loung-lai 
 
 k-paw-lai 
 
 Pd-may-nay 
 
 Kunduo 
 
 U'-li-am 
 
 Phaii 
 
 Khai, Phai 
 
 Krai, Siing 
 
 Hpoung 
 
 ng 
 
 Am 
 
 Chao 
 
 E' 
 
 Kin 
 
 Kin 
 
 Kin 
 
 Kyen 
 
 
 Nwa 
 
 Thouo 
 
 U'-6 
 
 Kin-nam 
 
 Kin-nam 
 
 Deum 
 
 Kyen 
 
 h 
 
 Ping 
 
 Hibo 
 
 I'p 
 
 Non, Lap 
 
 Non, Lap 
 
 Lap 
 
 Nonn 
 
 j »g tang 
 
 Ting 
 
 Hougolo 
 
 Kakdk 
 
 Tun 
 
 Tun 
 
 Tun 
 
 Ten 
 
 fr-koo 
 
 .... 
 
 .... 
 
 • . • • 
 
 ■ * • • 
 
 .... 
 
 .... 
 
 .... 
 
 I ! 
 
 Nga 
 
 Noo 
 
 A-nwi 
 
 Kh6 
 
 Han, Khoa 
 
 H6aro 
 
 Kho 
 
 'lg 
 
 Ngen 
 
 Kupbo 
 
 A-kdp 
 
 Hai 
 
 Hai 
 
 Ronghai 
 
 Hihk 
 
 k-kser 
 
 Hnging 
 
 
 
 Mhe 
 
 Yu-tsip-tsip 
 
 Dak-dak-yu 
 
 Ning-yu 
 
 Yoo-hlseet- 
 
 hlseet 
 Sat 
 
 ing 
 
 Ung-dau 
 
 Haio 
 
 Hd-we 
 
 Wa 
 
 Pak 
 
 Phut 
 
 ■y 
 
 L6ne 
 
 Lao 
 
 Lo 
 
 Md 
 
 Md 
 
 Md 
 
 Mha 
 
 
 Lway 
 
 Chulo 
 
 Tsit 
 
 Kd 
 
 Pai, Men 
 
 Pai 
 
 Kwa 
 
 ng-tung 
 
 Ung-h'hung 
 
 Lebo 
 
 Ttin-e 
 
 Sau 
 
 Song 
 
 Yiin 
 
 Tsot-roo 
 
 ■r-nang 
 
 i 
 
 Ung-lan 
 
 Phumo 
 
 Ngunge 
 
 Nang 
 
 Nang 
 
 Nang 
 
 Nau-yoo 
 
 ing 
 
 Lay 
 
 Chulo 
 
 .... 
 
 Pai 
 
 Men 
 
 DUn " 
 
 Lay-yoo 
 
 ng-t-lamg 
 
 Law 
 
 Chfilo 
 
 Cho-n6 
 
 Len 
 
 Len-pai 
 
 Wing-pi 
 
 Lsn-kwa 
 
 1 long 
 
 Pha 
 
 Pio 
 
 Pe-ge 
 
 Haii 
 
 Hii 
 
 Hai 
 
 Pan 
 
390 
 
 List of English Words with their Equivalent* 
 
 
 ] 
 
 . 
 
 
 11. 
 
 III. 
 
 
 IV. 
 
 English. 
 
 Burmese. 
 
 Talain. 
 
 Singpho. 
 
 Sgau-karen. 
 
 B. 
 
 A. (P hay re) 
 
 A. 
 
 B. 
 
 A. 
 
 B. 
 
 Take 
 
 Yoo 
 
 Yii 
 
 Kate (Ket 1) 
 
 Kit. W. Keet. M. 
 
 Lau 
 
 He-na 
 
 He. 0. 
 
 Strike 
 
 Yiek 
 
 Yaik, Pok 
 
 Tak 
 
 Tat. M. 
 
 Dupu 
 
 Taw 
 
 Pa-tau. 0. 
 
 Kill 
 
 That 
 
 That 
 
 Ka-tsat 
 
 Tsa. M. 
 
 Satu 
 
 Mah-thee 
 
 .... 
 
 Bring 
 
 Yoo-ghay 
 
 Yfi-gh6 
 
 Kit-nain 
 
 Keei^nen. M. Ga- 
 nayung. W. 
 
 Lau 
 
 Halso 
 
 Hai-tso. N. 
 
 Take away 
 
 Yoo-thwa 
 
 Yu-thwa 
 
 Kit-na 
 
 
 
 Lau wau 
 
 Sokwee 
 
 Ke-tcho. 0. Ka-1 
 N. 
 
 He-ka. N. 
 
 Lift up 
 
 Khyee 
 
 Mhyouk 
 
 Ka-ban 
 
 Hka-boung. AV. 
 
 Ph6nu 
 
 So'taw 
 
 Hear 
 
 Kya 
 
 Kya 
 
 Moing 
 
 Kalan. M. Kaloun. 
 W. K'long. N. 
 
 Nangu 
 
 Nah-hoo 
 
 .... 
 
 Understand 
 
 Na-lay 
 
 Le, thi 
 
 Kla-tsat-rah 
 
 Klah-chot. N. 
 
 Ch6iu 
 
 Nah-por 
 
 .... 
 
 Tell 
 
 Pyau 
 
 S'ho, kya 
 
 Haum 
 
 Ham. N. 
 
 B6u 
 
 Tai 
 
 .... 
 
 Good 
 
 Koung-thau 
 
 Koung 
 
 Ka-khway-rah 
 
 Kha. M. 
 
 Gaja 
 
 Gha 
 
 
 Bad 
 
 Hls'ho-thau 
 
 S'ho 
 
 Ookha 
 
 Hakha. M. H'keh. 
 AV. Ohkeh. AY. 
 
 Ngaid 
 
 Er 
 
 A-6hh. " ' 
 
 Cold 
 
 Khyan-thau 
 
 E' 
 
 Bha 
 
 Ba. M. Hboh. AV. 
 
 Katsi 
 
 Gho 
 
 
 Hot 
 
 Poo-thau 
 
 Pd 
 
 Katao 
 
 K'tou. N. 
 
 Kathet 
 
 Ko 
 
 
 Raw 
 
 Tsieng-thau 
 
 Seing 
 
 Kroung 
 
 
 Ketsing 
 
 Thee-' k'- sal 
 
 A-tsi. 0." 
 
 Ripe 
 
 Hmay-thau 
 
 Mhe 
 
 Doo 
 
 Hdoo. AV. Too. M. 
 
 Min 
 
 Me 
 
 A-mhi. 0. 
 
 Sweet 
 
 Khyo-thau 
 
 Khyo 
 
 Dat 
 
 Tat. M. 
 
 Dui 
 
 'Sir 
 
 Tser. N. A-tchu. 
 
 Sour 
 
 Khyin-thau 
 
 Khyin 
 
 Phya 
 
 Hpya. M. Pyah. N. 
 
 Khri 
 
 'Se 
 
 Tse. N. 
 
 Bitter 
 
 Kha-thau 
 
 Kha 
 
 Ka-taun 
 
 Katau. M. K'tong. 
 
 N. 
 Gau. M. K6. N. 
 
 Kha 
 
 'Kah 
 
 Kha. N. 
 
 Handsome 
 
 Hal-thau [than 
 
 Lha 
 
 Khoo 
 
 Jasoi 
 
 A'khwee-bah 
 
 P'kwah gha. N. 
 
 Ugly 
 
 Ayok-ts'ho- 
 
 Ayups'ho 
 
 Parray 
 
 P'reh. N. 
 
 Samnang 
 
 T'khee-bah 
 
 .... 
 
 Straight 
 
 Hpyoung-thau 
 
 Phyouug 
 
 Touk 
 
 S'toup. N. 
 
 Preng 
 
 Lo or blir 
 
 .... 
 
 Crooked 
 
 Kouk-thau 
 
 Kouk 
 
 Ngauk 
 
 Tanouk. M. [N. 
 
 Mago 
 
 Ka 
 
 T'blir. N. 
 
 Black 
 
 Net-thau 
 
 Net 
 
 Ka-tsok 
 
 Katsau. M. K'chok. 
 
 Chang 
 
 Thoo 
 
 Athu. 0. 
 
 White 
 
 Phyoo-thau 
 
 Phyu 
 
 Pa-taing 
 
 Ptan. AV. 
 
 Phrong 
 
 AVah 
 
 
 Red 
 
 Nee-thau 
 
 Ni 
 
 Pa-keet 
 
 Pa-ket. AV. 
 
 Khyeng 
 
 Ghaw 
 
 Gau. N.' ' ' 
 
 Green 
 
 Tsieng-thau 
 
 Seing 
 
 Arong-thwee 
 
 Yhneet 
 
 Ketsing 
 
 Lah 
 
 
 Long 
 
 Shay-thau 
 
 She 
 
 Klaing 
 
 Kalein. M. 
 
 Galti 
 
 'Taw 
 
 
 Short 
 
 To-thau 
 
 To 
 
 Khlee 
 
 Kle. N. 
 
 N. 
 Thalon. M. Hloong. 
 
 Kutun 
 
 'Pu 
 
 A-phu. 0. 
 
 Tall 
 
 Myeen-thau 
 
 Myin 
 
 Lhoung 
 
 Tsode 
 
 'Tau 
 
 .... 
 
\>me of the Languages of Burma and its Borders. 
 
 391 
 
 V. 
 
 VI. 
 
 VII. 
 
 VIII. 
 
 IX. 
 
 X. 
 
 XL 
 
 XII. 
 
 1 Pwo-karen. 
 
 Toungthoo. M. 
 
 Munnipoori. 
 
 Khyen. 
 
 Khamti. 
 
 Laos. 
 
 Siamese. 
 
 Shan (taken in 
 
 
 
 {Stuart.) 
 
 (Phayre.) 
 
 (Shan.) 
 
 (S/tan.) 
 
 (Shan) 
 
 Tenasserim). 
 
 Hah-nee 
 
 Khone 
 
 Louo 
 
 Si 
 
 Au 
 
 Au 
 
 Au-nap 
 
 An 
 
 )oo 
 
 Tway 
 
 Yai-yo 
 
 Mo-16 
 
 Po 
 
 Ti, bup 
 
 Ti, boe 
 
 Pau-tihn 
 
 Hah-thce 
 
 Ma-thay 
 
 Hato-o 
 
 Tu-e 
 
 Autai 
 
 Kha 
 
 Khd, autai 
 
 Out-tihn 
 
 : ihai-tsoh 
 
 Htoo-tone 
 
 Puru-o 
 
 
 
 Aumd 
 
 Auma 
 
 Aumd 
 
 Oung-ma 
 
 ■6h-kwaik 
 
 Htoo-lway 
 
 Piikho 
 
 
 
 S6ng 
 
 S6ng, Thu 
 
 Thu 
 
 Oung-kwa 
 
 Vih tong 
 
 Hya or young 
 
 Th&nga lao 
 
 Youk-ke 
 
 Yo, y6ng 
 
 Yd 
 
 Yok 
 
 Hok-khen 
 
 ■Jah Gung 
 
 Heung 
 
 Tao 
 
 Ka-yauk 
 
 Ngin 
 
 Nyin 
 
 Dai-yin 
 
 Htan-loo 
 
 Hah-thee 
 
 Tha-na 
 
 .... 
 
 N6 
 
 Hu, Thorn 
 
 Rii, hii 
 
 Rfi 
 
 Hoo-likh 
 
 Lau-bah 
 
 Thou-than 
 
 .... 
 
 ■ > * > 
 
 Wa 
 
 Wd 
 
 Bokwd 
 
 Lat 
 
 thee [bung.) 
 
 Heu 
 
 Aphabd 
 
 Be 
 
 Ni 
 
 Di 
 
 Di 
 
 Lee-yau 
 
 'Tng (u as in 
 
 Kay 
 
 Phutte 
 
 Po-ya 
 
 Mani 
 
 Hdi, Bodi 
 
 Chua, Maidi 
 
 Ma-lee 
 
 flser gaung 
 
 Khwd 
 
 Ayingba 
 
 Ka-young 
 
 Yen 
 
 Nau, Yen 
 
 Yen, Nau 
 
 Kat 
 
 feer-koo 
 
 Kheu 
 
 Asdba 
 
 Kho-leik 
 
 Hon. Mai, Liit 
 
 Hon 
 
 Bon 
 
 Meik 
 
 L-thaing 
 
 Ta-theet 
 
 Asungba 
 
 Tem 
 
 Nip 
 
 Dip 
 
 Dip 
 
 Chyo 
 
 fcaaing 
 
 Hnia 
 
 Amunba 
 
 Mhin 
 
 Siik 
 
 Siik 
 
 Siik 
 
 A-htsot 
 
 toung 
 
 Neu 
 
 Athdmba 
 
 TCi-i 
 
 Win 
 
 Wan 
 
 Wdn 
 
 Tron 
 
 ►kaing 
 
 H'sya 
 
 Asinba 
 
 To 
 
 S6m 
 
 S6m 
 
 S6m, Preo 
 
 Htsol 
 
 Khali 
 
 Khu 
 
 Akhaba 
 
 Khau 
 
 Khom 
 
 Khom 
 
 Khom 
 
 Khon 
 
 flwee-lah 
 
 Tdrd 
 
 Aphujaba 
 
 Pau-i 
 
 Ngdm 
 
 Ngdm 
 
 Ngdm 
 
 Han-leeu 
 
 ah-ung 
 
 .... 
 
 Sukthiba 
 
 Asi-i 
 
 Hang-hai 
 
 Hdi 
 
 Bai 
 
 .... 
 
 laung 
 
 Tsone 
 
 Chum6 
 
 Kldn 
 
 Nan 
 
 .... 
 
 Trong, Su 
 
 Tsoo 
 
 Laing 
 
 Ngd-ken 
 
 Khoye 
 
 Kolak 
 
 Ngok 
 
 Kom, Kot 
 
 Ngo 
 
 Kot 
 
 Ihung 
 
 Phren 
 
 Amooba 
 
 Kan 
 
 Nam 
 
 Dam, Nin 
 
 Dam 
 
 Lan 
 
 [wah 
 
 Bwa 
 
 Angouba 
 
 Bdk 
 
 Khau, Phiik 
 
 Khau, Pheuk 
 
 Khau 
 
 Khoung 
 
 Kauh 
 
 Ta-nya 
 
 Afigangba 
 
 Sen 
 
 Neng 
 
 Deng, Kam 
 
 Deng 
 
 Len 
 
 ec 
 
 Ling 
 
 Napu 
 
 Nau 
 
 Khyeu 
 
 Kheau 
 
 Kheau 
 
 Chyo 
 
 ,HH 
 
 Hto 
 
 Ashangba 
 
 Sou 
 
 Yau 
 
 Yam 
 
 Yau 
 
 Young 
 
 'u 
 
 Deng 
 
 Tele 
 
 Twe 
 
 Lot 
 
 San, Hun 
 
 San 
 
 Tot 
 
 feg-tang 
 
 
 
 
 Lhtin 
 
 Sung 
 
 Sung 
 
 Sting 
 
 Tson 
 
 F\ — After this was in proof, I received from Capt. Henry Hopkinson, Commissioner in Aracan, a triple list of Khyen vocables 
 lifferent parts of the province. I very much regret to find that its insertion would involve a greater delay than can be risked 
 the pressure with which it is necessary to complete the Report for submission. 
 
 London : — Printed by Gcorgo Barclay, Castlo Street Leicester Square. 
 
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