194 
natives, he says, represent it as the combined 
labour of spirits and men, many thousand 
years ago; but the sphinxes, crocodiles, 
griffins, and other customary symbols, seem 
to indicate a remote connexion with Egypt. 
No other testimony, however, exists to con- 
firm any such conjecture. 
One of the Burman commanders, on tak- 
ing leave of the “‘ Golden Foot,’’ received 
from his paw—his hands, we mean—a small 
fan, which his majesty assured him would 
turn off all the English balls, if he only 
wayed it to and fro. The notion of invul- 
nerability was very prevalent among 
them :— 
One of their magic charms consists in preparing 
amall pieces of gold, of the size and shape of a 
silyer penny, on which certain mystical character's 
are engraved, aud inserting them into small in- 
cisions made in the upper part of the arm; and 
when the skin has closed upon them, the charm is 
effected. Others again have mystical emblems 
tattooed with red on their arms and breast, But 
the supposed efficacy—adds the author very care- 
fully—of any of these precautions, must have been 
soon called into question by the Burmahs them- 
selves, as we used to find many of their soldiers, 
marked in the manner which I haye here described, 
lying amongst the dead after our engagements, 
One man, in particular, made himself very con- 
spicuous by his apparent contempt of danger, 
which he manifested by jumping and dancing on 
the trench, as if in defiance, and addressing us 
from thence in the coarsest strain of abuse (could 
the authorconstrue it?). For some time he was 
fortunate enough to escape, and Lrepeatedly saw 
from forty to fifty shots (what shots the shooters 
must be!) fired at him without effect ; but one 
day, his protecting charm loosing its virtues, or 
his good luck failing him, he was struck by a 
musket-ball, and giving one convulsive bound, 
fell back, and appeared no more. 
At Dalla, the Burmabs had Leen directed to 
fire at the officers, and a tall officer of the 89th, 
who was leading on his men, particularly attract- 
edtheir notice. Twenty of the best shots imme- 
diately selected him as a mark, and fived, but 
missed—when seeing that several men around 
hin had fallen, though he was unburt, they con- 
cluded he bore a charmed life, and immediately 
fled, e 
After General Cotton’s failure, Bundoo- 
lah, the Burmese crack-champion, dis- 
patched two or three Burmahs with a mes- 
sage pretty obviously insidious, but which 
was exposed in the following manner :— 
One of the party struck the fancy of a jolly tar, 
who was present, and either from good nature or 
mere frolic, went up to him and said—* Jack, 
will you drink a glass of grog?’ when, to the 
astonishment of all the spectators, the Burmah 
answered in capital English—* No; I thank you, 
Sir.” This immediately led to his apprehension, 
when he confessed he had been educated by one 
of the king’s linguists, (?) and had aequired con- 
siderable knowledge of the English language—the 
Bundoolah therefore desired him, on this occasion, 
fo accompany the other Burmahs to the English 
fleet, and while seemingly inattentive, gather all 
the intelligence he could-from the conyersation of 
Monthly Review of Literature. 
[Aueusr, 
the bystanders. His life was spared (!) and he 
subsequently was taken into the service of Sir A. 
Campbell, as interpreter, whence he deserted at 
Melloon. 
Blind musician and prophet :— 
I chanced one day to meet with a young Bur- 
mah who had been stone blind from his birth, bat 
who, gifted witl great talent for music, used to 
console himself for his misfortune by playing on a 
species of guitar, and accompanying his voice. 
When I expressed a wish to hear him perform; he 
immediately struck out a most brilliant prelude, 
and then commenced a song, in a bold tone, the 
subject of which was a prophecy that had been 
current at Rangoon Lefore we arrived. It predict- 
ed the appearance of numerous strangers at that 
place, and that two masted ships would sail up 
the Irrawaddy, when all trouble and sorrow would 
cease, 
The Burmahs plume themselves on their 
knowledge of medicine, but make no great, 
pretensions, it seems, to surgery :— 
Talking of the bravery of the white people, they. 
said it was of no use cutting off an arm, when a 
British soldier seized the summit of a stockade to’ 
assist himself in getting over, for that he imme- 
diately made ase of the other; and that after the: 
action, the English doctors went about the field 
looking fer the severed legs and arms, which they 
fastened on again, : 
And once when a Burmah was brought in 
wounded, and the surgeon cut off his leg; the 
poor fellow, after amputation, supposing it tobe a’ 
new kind of torture, calmly held up the other to* 
the surgeon to be served the same way. 
The unsuccessful commander in one of. 
the engagements—a wretch who appears to. 
have inflicted all sorts of cruelties on those. 
who were subjected to his command—was. 
ordered himself for execution; and, when 
forced along, amid the hoctings and indig-: 
nities which the enraged populace were: 
pouring upon him, and on the point of 
losing sight of the imperial palace, suddenly 
turned round, and inclining his head, “ Let 
me make one parting obeisance to the resi- 
dence of my sovereign!” This the author 
characterizes as ife burst of a fine senti- 
ment of loyality—it furnishes a pendant 
for the libelist in Elizabeth’s reign, who, 
when one hand was cut off, raised his hat 
with the other, and shouted “ God save the 
queen !” 
In the author’s march to Aeng, he passed 
through the territories of the Kizaans—how 
the word is to be uttered, we know not—a 
people apparently independent of all civil 
government—herding in thirties and forties. 
in the recesses of mountains. The only trace» 
of authority was in the priest. The tenets. 
of these Kizaanese, it seems are very sim- 
ple, and of the supreme deity they have no_ 
conception : for, “ to my inquiries on the: 
subject,’ says the author, * my informer 
answered that they were the offspring of the 
mountains and of nature ; and nature alone © 
(he adds) appears to have any claims on> 
their feelings.” These Kizaanese, more- 
ee lL 
