8* ON THE INHABITANTS OF THE 



the cause of it ; on which it was usual for the Maungy 

 to call on his vassal, to answer to the accusation : if 

 he acknowledged it, an ambassador was dispatched to 

 the complainant, desiring him to desist from his inten- 

 tion, and to name arbitrators, that justice might be 

 done : on the other hand, if the charge was denied, 

 and the accused exhorted his chief to stand on the 

 defensive, with an assurance that he would either 

 prove his innocence, after the invasion, or make 

 good the loss sustained on both sides, the vassals were 

 assembled and stationed to guard every avenue lead- 

 ing to the village. Night attacks v were most com- 

 mon > but these precautions were in general sufficient 

 to induce the assailants to defer a scheme which was 

 merely to plunde-, and, as long as the defendants 

 were alert, nothing' was attempted; the invaders 

 therefore kept in their neighbourhood, and, when 

 they were harassed by watching, the party advanced, 

 and a man was sent forward to scatter a soporific 

 dust to windward of the village, which, it was be- 

 lieved, would put every inhabitant in it to sleep in 

 less than an hour after dark. In this persuasion they 

 rushed on to plunder, and, carrying off all that was 

 valuable, retreated ; soon after which a deputation 

 was sent from the despoiled village, desiring an arbi- 

 tration to be appointed, to try whether the accusa- 

 tion was just which was alleged against the inha- 

 bitant of it : if proved, he was bound to make good 

 the loss sustained, as well as to commute the lives 

 that might have been lost on both sides : on the other 

 hand, if acquitted, all this fell on the accusers. 



When 



