208 Dr Hamilton's Account of the Frontier 



could supplicate the others. They have books containing an 

 account of Rama, of his spouse Sita, and of many other Hin- 

 du deities ; but, like the natives of Ava, they consider these 

 as beings still liable to the infirmities of mortality, and not yet 

 arrived at Nriban, or the state of perfect bliss, free from 

 change and misfortune. The priest compared Gautama to 

 himself, and Maha Muni to his young disciple. 



The principal circumstance, however, which distinguishes 

 the religion of the Joomea Muggs from that of Ava, is, that 

 the former are much addicted to the offering of bloody sacri- 

 fices to the spirits (Nat) of the air, mountains, woods, and ri- 

 vers, a superstition held in abhorrence by the priests of Ava ; 

 nor in the whole empire did I see one instance of such a cere- 

 mony, but, during my stay at Sualuk, the drum, by which it 

 is accompanied, never ceased. When a Joomea Mugg has 

 made a vow, or when he wishes to render a Nat propitious, he 

 hires a drummer, goes to the supposed residence of the spirit, 

 dances for some time with all his might, ana then kills the 

 animal, pouring forth its blood to the hungry deities. The 

 flesh is then dressed to the sound of the drum, and carried 

 home to a feast, which also is accompanied by that noisy in- 

 strument. The Nat of the Sualuk residing near the place 

 where my tent was pitched, I did not enjoy a moment's si- 

 lence. This superstition, I believe, was not in use in Arakan, 

 and has probably been adopted by the Joomeas from the 

 rude tribes among whom they have settled, and among whom 

 it universally prevails. 



Soon after returning to my tent from the convent, I receiv- 

 ed a message from the priest, who wished to know if I would 

 take him to Europe. I answered that I could not, but that 

 I would be glad to carry him with me to my house at Lukhi- 

 pur, in order to receive instruction from him in the language 

 of Rakhain and Ava ; and I requested to know if he would 

 sell me a copy of the book Kammua. He said that he could 

 not sell the book, but, if I resided near, he would make for 

 me whatever books I wanted. Our views thus being unsuit- 

 able to each other's convenience, the negociation terminated. 



The southern tribe of the Joomea Muggs in 1798 was sub- 

 ject to a chief called Umpry Palong ; but whether this was 



