Kayn are, however, ;§tjlf independent. ..The. .Birmans hayefen.ot.iyet .carried
saicrilqgious i®ya§icst to. their holy mountain, which .prohably asiiiol worth
acquiring. When-aKayn.digs within dwi jnrisdioJipn^h-the^jhinanSjLthe
pJatigns.oi/|he ^eeift^d!»alytays •con,yey;>the1inpis.j5anelith? iwage oftfas
departed person, to, ,Gppwa, there, tp;;.dgpqs.lt . them, in shallowed .earth..
These people have. n,o letters, nor-any law, except,^custom..Jo, this, the
Birmans prudently leave .them, .nejygr .fojeifi^iqgxte -{heh:. municipal and
social economy.
Gur curiosity being .satisfied,, .we .deft :Meeaday • g§| i ,ax: Ahe...pajnJ,er
had finished, the drawings. The country through which, we sailed this
day had,a,pleasing appearance; spotStOf j^ultiYatiqniPnd^frgay^ftt^tpwn?
skirted sthe river, nyhile * small hills, clothed w ith j tfge^cise
y^e passed in .our'way through,a flock••pf.dhirty pr, fortykiftfopbapte who
were sw imming aejoss thenrivex, carrying their iidsSfi Qlha^ir)j)5»eclfcis
these, were all females,. and had b.een employed in ,hnntipg^heir,,pwja
species-; .males,ate;sd(doui:Used by tbeiBpat3M£ ■f9 r}lhat^urgos.e..^L^.tp,ip
the evening we. brought to, at a small town .called
a custom house, having now entered the ...governmest p fj the. RriaS&ifif
Prome.
We got under way early the .ensuing, morning,
stopped at th e lower suburbs of Prome, indhe midst of,a. great, cqnqqursg
of. boats. Landing our horses, we rode.in Jhe. ,eyei}iqg:,tp view the site of
a very ancient city, which ages ago was.the, residence ofta.;dyfta.sty. q f
Pegue kings, before their country had. submitted fo the Birman.yoke/y Qn
our right, we left a large temple.named Shoe Sanda.Praw, situated on an
eminence, round the foot of which were several Mourns, .or monasteries;
pursuing a southerly direction, we „came. on .a. level „road leading through
vtcxk cutavated fields, interspersed with groves of tall palmyra trees. We
observed the channels of two rivers at this, time almost dry; but which
in. the rainy season roll drown an impetuous current from the moan'
tains, and empty their waiters into the Irrawaddy; by these streams, teak
timber is floated from the forests during the monsoon,, and is sold here
very cheap.. A plank three inches thick, and from sixteen to twenty feet
long, may be purchased for a tackal, o* half a crown. The soil in the
neighbourhood of Prome, is remarkably well adapted for gardens, and we
met several persons cariyisg loads of fruit on their heads to market.
The evening was for advar^edphefere; We reached Yasttee, on entering,
which We.passed through a® old gateway, that appeared to be narrower,
but of greater depth, than any we. had yet see® ; indeed the ruinous
state both of the gateway and the.waH, rendered it difficult to judge accurately
of their dimensions; within we could distinguish nothing: bat
houses » 4 fields, and it was how too late to explore the antiquities of
the place. Two inteflagent men, whom we overtook riding' afesg the
road, informed us that it had once bee® a great fortified city of a square
form, each side measuring a space equal to two miles and a. half; that it
had flourished for several centuries, before the Ml of the Pegue mo>*
narchy, and that the vestiges of the imperial' palace and a large temple
were still remaining'.
During our ride; we observed two caravans of waggons draws up in a
circular form, in the same manner as those we had remarked at Meeaday,
on our journey to tbecapkal: here, however; the number of carts was much
greater;; one of the caravans containing not less than: a hunched, which
were disposed in two circles,, one within'the other, presenting a very formidable
harrier against the assaults either of men, or of wild beasts; They
3 M