( 42 ) 



watching the whole process. The design is first fashioned in clay, 

 which is covered with a coating of wax half an inch thick ; this is 

 again plastered over with clay, and allowed to dry for a few days : 

 it is then placed in a fierce charcoal furnace ; the wax melts 

 and pours out through an orifice left for the purpose, and the 

 mould is ready for the molten metal. It is seldom that the first cast is 

 a success, often there are three or four failures before a satisfactory 

 result is obtained. After the image has been cast, there yet remains 

 to be done the filing and burnishing, which is the most tedious 

 part of the business. Articles for sale are generally exposed in the 

 rough, and worked up according to the price offered. 



75. Carpentry is another branch of industry that is largely 

 „ . ,~ represented at the Capital, and in 



Carving and Carpentry. j.i t.o> i t • it 



the dimerent shops I inspected were 

 some exceedingly good specimens of workmanship exposed 

 for sale at most reasonable prices. A teak box that would 

 cost Rs. 12 in Rangoon can be purchased at Mandalay for Rs. 4. 

 The carving, though well executed, did not come up to some I have 

 seen from Henzada ; which place, I believe, is celebrated for this 

 particular art throughout Burma. In the same street with 

 the carpenters, and in many instances occupying a portion of 

 the same house, were decorators and manufacturers of ornamental 

 carved-goods picked out in various patterns, in red and gold and 

 mosaic work in mirror. From a distance this work has a capital 

 effect, but it does not bear close inspection. As a curio, I ordered 

 a tsadike, or box in which the sacred writings are kept, with a 

 tazoung superstructure, after the design of the spire of the palace, 

 for which I was charged Rs. 25. 



76. Although I went on three different occasions to see the glass- 



„, .. blowers, some excuse was always 



Glass-blowers. i • i > i • 



given which prevented my seeing 

 the process. Captain Strover, however, showed me some very pretty 

 glass marbles, something after the description of those used in 

 the game of Solitaire, which, he assured me, were manufactured at 

 Mandalay ; but they might easily have passed for English, so per- 

 fect were they in all respects. 



77. The market-place is about a mile and a half from the 



The City Market. dt 7' ^ SitUa * ed °? 0ne ° f the P™" 



pal roads : it is a large square brick 

 enclosure in an unfinished state, with four entrances arranged 

 according to the cardinal points. Within, it is divided into com- 

 partments by two roads running the entire length of the building, 

 and intersected by others at equal distances apart. The stalls 

 have thatched roofs, but are not walled in, and each vendor has his 



