LITEkATUkE OF THE BURMAS. 20g 



• the great emperor, that he may induce men tolive vir- 

 ' tuoufly, charitably, andjuftly, fpeaksthus: "Truly, 

 ' if men fulfilled the law, they would be fuch as I 

 ' am." After this he, with all his train, to the number 

 ' of 36,000,000 of Nat, return to the city, in the 

 ' midft of mufic. 



"In the center of this glorious city is built the 



• palace of the emperor, of which the height is 500 



• juzana : but who can defcribe its beauty, ornaments, 



• treafures, or the abundance of gold, filver, gems, and 



• precious ftones, with which it ftiines? Small ftand- 

 ' ards, of gold and filver, are placed in every part. 

 ' The chariot in which the great emperor is carried, 

 ■ extends 150 juzana, and in it are placed a great 



throne, and a white umbrella. This chariot is drawn 

 by 2,000 horfes, before whom is the great ftandard, 

 1^0 juzana high, which, when moved by the wind, 

 yields a moft agreeable murmur." 

 " Twenty juzana to the north-eaft of the great city 

 is a moft celebrated tree, the facred image of the ha- 

 bitation, which, like the facred trees of the four great 

 iflands, lives for the duration of one world. Under* 

 this tree is a prodigious ftone, fixty juzana long, fifty 

 broad, and fifteen high. It is fmooth and foft like 

 cotton, and under the feet of the great emperor is e- 

 laftic, being deprejGTed when he ftands on it, and rifing 

 again when he defcends, as if it were fenfible of the 

 honored weight by which it is preffed. When the 

 affairs of our fouthern ifland are profperous and 

 quiet, the half of the emperor's body finks into the 

 ftone: but when a contrary ftate of affairs exifts, the 

 ftone remains tenfe and rigid like a drum. This fa- 

 cred tree is furrounded by fome of the kind called 

 Padeza'-bayn, and by others producing both fruit and 

 flowers. The road leading to this tree is twenty j2i- 

 zana long, and is every year frequented by the Nat 

 reforting to the place. When the tree flowers, its 

 ruddy fplendour extends, all around, to the diftance 

 of ^.hy juzana, and its moft agreeable odour is dif- 

 fufed twice that length. When it has flowered, the 

 VOL. VI. P *' keeper 



