by the palmyra and the tamarind. Early-in the evening we-brought to in a
creek which leads. up to a large town named Sümmei-kioum: after dinner
I)r. Buchanan and myself took a walk along the margin of the creek, which
carried-..ust to the town: by a wide ehsogit: we found the; houses, though
numerous, mean, and very irregularly built.;- the gröunds in the neighbourhood
were embanked for the cultivation of rice-.-' The., soil appeared to be
•goody but the inhabitants expressed.the utmost anxiety on the subjecttof
rain; not a drop had yet.fallen here, although, in the common coursetof'
seasons;, the monsoon should have commenced three weeks earlier. The
poor people were carefully husbanding their rice straw, for the support Of
their cattle, large herds of which were endeavouring' to,pick up a su b sfe
tence from the parched blades of grass, in heids that were jcovered with
dust instead of Verdure. The appearance of these animals bespoke excess
sive poverty if not actual famine.
A t Summei-kioum there is the greatest manufactory ofosalfpétrerand
gunpowder in the kingdom : here also is prepared the.gunpowder that is
required for the royal magazines; it is the sole occupation of the inhabit
taats. Neither saltpetre n o r gunpowder are suffered to 'te^pO fted 'u n d er
any plea, nor can the smallest quantity be sold without a special license
from some man in power.
Early in the morning we left the neighbourhood of gunpowder and salt*
petre : temples; and villages lined the banks bfc
tedious to enumerate them. A t nine o’clock we stopped at Gnameaghee,
celebrated for producing the best tobacco in the Birman empiref;'mahy
brick kilns were on fire, preparing materials for building temples, of which
there appeared to be already a sufficient number. Pursuing our journey,
we passed numerous islands; some of them were cultivated, and had
houses^nhabitarij^and $md .suddenly rose
to a&toSju ; Mi ^
sLream, and
p o p p e d inidnchm’jilpo^^ijjyig^ii's situation, I dispatched one of
.boatsi.t^ fsj^idywheo ,thejuiji}bd&lh)£fs-f^^ h'ini
in s3ilec,y, to, ib3,IIcd is£a small.town-.w-hicli.^tolM hAto.UTldI(lie
i’lSnds ddjgpqngkis i>c<^^^^^5^&yythe^epiL%.tjkeeper&)b&oiigin"i4o
the royal stables. The King elephants «f
lusidomimons, dndk*l»he^in>vkge}10' rfdc,>^i,fo.ij'!ke’Jp onecol'|hjjSe amm-m^
is ah honour granted oulv to men of’tlie .Ve^s^lu s^L1 raijik ;Ujdppnscqiiei\ccj.;,
JysjBirnidu M ijpsty>is£sayl to pdb.scsSjfiOOp. In lricljd,knnle ckphinf^s ii^k
p r i z e d n i h ’fds, on account of their m A ; i
it,is, thi^ieJjCise;finales .at. p c v a u ^ d o ^ 1stitc‘J()(^i\ionjsv.tnd ^lllom.Jor'
^anlmaiy riding,'Jwhiih c^ns't^ tjfj&t'o th q r ^ ^ a ^ t ^ p 1>miioh; higher
l ^ h o « e \ e i ’rarely, liappcns thatpithcr o n e ^ ^ tl\ijo t Ikf i
tho Kings exclusive right., and, d ^ lm i p ^ ^ rq th^t ism^cle (of4 lc^-
vent tfieuibecbiffing.an aTti^efof^fjmmo^'sjile:
_f. j W e set out at antep',Iy^ffifinextjiponwng/'MealimjdpI,^nthe'y'ebtci;n
appeared horn the viatci; to be a large town,,shaded, by gro^cs.*^) dmj.ra
Trees.; .il.isjeinaLkablcj.foi aj manufactory, of c h ^ c i e d coljtqn {jfodS^
^aefoas is »worn by; theJpwer class, o^eoifelfi^j'^’ajraojain*, ,aTo.w^m the
aggstern side, was distinguished by stv eri-,6 ^ >ipl^5',iand;a.' handsome^<inas,-
tery. Abqut twelve ^clockfthe Slmvybikd^ g ^ ?^ .^ jf f i& interyky^at
jLoqnghee, had, r§ turned tOjA^a,; ;inet us Sf .he. ha^ti^dllcd^y ^hj gieat
expedition, havjng been at ,court, pid^m^cje h is .re j^ ^ ^ ^ fe |fe ’sen|j'v^jwas
^spontaneous act'of civility: he gc^esSfid a,small*.jaghirg,or personal
tate, in the neighbourhood, wherg,he had.pippared spme refreshments, ;of