C H A P T E R X X IV
TH E CIIIND WIN—(continued)
ABOVE Kalewa, the sandstone cliffs that are a
peculiar feature of Chindwin scenery increase in
height and continuity, and between these mighty walls
there lies in a gap the village of Balet. To this remote
settlement were deported many of those prisoners,
French and Portuguese, who fell into the hands of the
King of Ava after the fall of Syriam, three hundred
years ago ; and here their descendants, completely
Orientalised, may still be traced. Not far from Balet
there is the site of an ancient walled city of whose origin
little is known. It is believed by some to mark the
track of those who first came from India to civilise the
Burmese races. The story of the origin of Balet itself
is too characteristic of the Burmese idiosyncrasy to be
omitted. In the year 990 of the Burmese era, the
King of Ava resolved to invade Pegu. He consulted
his astrologers with a view to victory, and was told that
his commanding general must be a man with black
hands. Search was made for such a person, and he was
found fishing near the river bank at Letmetaung. He
was appointed by the king the commander of his
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