466 



ANNUAL REGISTER, 1800. 



year was celebrated by a variety of 

 sportive amusements; boxing, wrest- 

 ling, and fire-works, were of the 

 number; at all of which he was in- 

 vited to attend. A drama was also 

 performed; the subject was bor- 

 rowed from an epic poem in Sans- 

 crit, celebrating the loves and the 

 misfortunes of Rama and Sita; and 

 the actors acquitted themselves in 

 no despicable manner. A temple 

 of great antiquity, and singular ar- 

 chitecture, dedicated to Sumadu^ 

 (the golden Madu) which our au- 

 thor conceives to be a corruption of 

 Mahadeva, still exhibits its fading 

 grandeur to its diminished votaries. 

 After a residence of three weets in 

 this city, major Symes returned to 

 Kangun. 



The foundation of Rangun was 

 laid by Alornpra, a few years be- 

 fore his death, near the site of a ce- 

 lebrated temple dedicated to Suda- 

 gon, (the golden Dagon) and on that 

 ( as far as it could be traced by tra- 

 dition ) of an ancient city called in 

 the Pali, or sacred language, Sin- 

 gunterra. The liberal policy of the 

 Birman government, in the encou- 

 ragement of commerce, and in the 

 toleration of every religious sect, has 

 produced its natural efi'ect in the 

 rapid population and flourishing cir- 

 cumstances of this new city. There 

 are five thousand registered taxable 

 houses in the town and suburbs ; and 

 if each house be supposed to contain 

 six people, the estimate will amount 

 to thirty thousand. In the same 

 street may be heard the solemn 

 voice of the muezzin, calling pious 

 Islamites to early prayers, and the 

 bell of the Portuguese chapel tink- 

 ling a summons to Romish Chris- 

 tians. The Birmans never trouble 

 themselves about the religious opi- 

 nions of any sect, nor disturb their 



ritual ceremonies, provided they do 

 not break tlie peace, nor interfere 

 with their own divinity, Gautama. 

 After some time spent at Ran- 

 gun, while the fate of the embassy 

 was still in suspense, a letter came 

 from the viceroy of Pegu, with the 

 intelligence that an imperial man- 

 date had arrived, directing that pre- 

 parations should be made for con- 

 veying the English ambassador and 

 his suite, by water, to the capital ; 

 and that the viceroy himself should 

 accompany them. They left Ran- 

 gun on the thirtieth of May, and 

 two days afterwards they entered 

 the Iravati, on which the whole sub- 

 sequent navigation was performed. 

 The rapid current of the stream 

 rendered the journey tedious, and 

 extremely laborious to the people of 

 the boats. The banks of the river 

 presented great variety of scenery ; 

 sometimes an unproductive waste of 

 desolate country; sometimes large 

 cities, with their gilded temples and 

 grotesque architecture, extended 

 along the sides; sometimes commodi- 

 ous villages, seated on the shore,com- 

 bined the labours of the husband- 

 man with the more lucrative occu- 

 pations of commerce ; and frequent- 

 ly the banks were shaded by groves 

 of pipal and mango trees, while the 

 distant mountains of Aracan ap- 

 peared covered with forests of lofty 

 teak. At Yainangheaum (or Pe- 

 troleum Creek) a piece of stone was 

 brought to the author, which he 

 was assured had been petrified 

 wood. He says, 'I picked up se- 

 veral lumps of the same, in which- 

 the grain of the wood was plainly 

 discerned; it was hard, siliceous, 

 and seemed composed of different 

 lamina. The Birmans said it was 

 the nature of the soil that caused this 

 transmutation; and added, that the 



