304 ANNUAL REGISTER, 1800. 



and principal nobility of the Birman 

 empire, each person in the place 

 appropriated to his particular rank 

 and station : proximity to the throne 

 is, of course, the most honourable 

 station, and this station was occu- 

 pied by the princes of the blood 

 and great officers of state. The heir 

 apparent sat on a small stool, about 

 six inches high ; the other princes 

 on fine mats. The space between 

 the central pillars that front the 

 throne, is always left vacant, for 

 this curious reason, that his ma- 

 jesty's eyes may not be obliged to 

 behold those, whom he does not 

 mean to honour with a look. 



In a few minutes, eight Brahmans 

 dressed in white sacerdotal gowns 

 and silk caps of the same colour, 

 studded with gold, assembled round 

 the foot of the throne, within the 

 balustrade, and recited a long 

 prayer in not unpleasing recitative; 

 this ceremony lasted a quarter of an 

 hour. When they had withdrawn, 

 the letter from the governor-gene- 

 ral, which I delivered to the wun- 

 doc, was placed on a silver tray in 

 front of the railing, and the reader 

 advanced into the vacant space, and 

 made three prostrations, touching 

 the ground each time with his fore- 

 head; he then read, or rather 

 chanted, in a loud voice, what I 

 understood was aBirman translation 

 of the letter. When this was done, 

 the reader repeated his prostrations, 

 and next proclaimed a list of pre- 

 sents for the king. These several 

 readings being finished, he repeated 

 his obeisances and retired ; after an 

 interval of a few minutes, an officer 

 advanced, and proposed a question 

 to me, as if from his majesty ; on 

 receiving my answer he withdrew, 

 as it might be supposed, to commu- 

 nicate the reply ; and returned in 



an adequate time to ask another ; 

 thus he put three separate questions 

 to me, which were as follows : 

 You come from a distant country ; 

 how long is it since you arrived .-' 

 How were the king, queen, and 

 royal family of England, when the 

 last accounts came from thence ."* 

 Was England at peace or war with 

 other nations? and was your coun- 

 try in a state of disturbance ? 



These were all the questions that 

 were proposed, neither the Chinese 

 nor any other person being inter- 

 rogated. In a few minutes after my 

 last reply had been conveyed, a 

 very handsome dessert was brought 

 in, and set before us; it consisted 

 of a variety of sweetmeats, as well of 

 China as Birman ; pickled tea-leaf, 

 and betel, formed part of the en- 

 tertainment, which was served up 

 in silver, china, and glass-ware; 

 there appeared to be not less than I 

 a hundred different small dishes; 

 we tasted of a few, and found some 

 of them very palatable ; but none 

 of the courtiers partook, or moved 

 from their places. 



The English Ambassador's Audi- 

 ence (^ Leave ; from the same. 



WE hadbeenseatedlittle more 

 than a quarter of an hour, 

 when the folding doors that con- 

 cealed the throne opened with a 

 loud noise, and discovered his ma- 

 jesty ascending a flight of steps, that 

 led up to it from an inner apart- 

 ment; he advanced but slowly, and 

 seemed not to possess a free use of 

 his limbs, being obliged to support 

 himself with his hands on the ba- 

 lustrade. I was informed, how- 

 ever, that this appearance of weak- 

 ness did not proceed from any bo- 



