LITERATURE OF THE BURMAS. 245 



** fire, feven times by water, and once only by wind; 

 " and that in the fame order as in the plan. The 

 " perpendicular lines reprefent the times of deftruc- 

 *' tion, and the horizontal ones the proportionate 

 " height to which each deftruttion reaches. Thus 

 " when fire is the agent it reaches to the height No. i. 

 " and the five inkvior Ztan are deftroyed. After a fe- 

 *' ries of fixty-four deftrufcfions of the»world, the lafl 

 " of which happens by wind, the firft of the next fe- 

 " ries is occalioned by fire, and the fame order is re- 

 " peated. The world which immediately preceded 

 " this, was deftroyed by fire, which reached to- the 

 *' height marked No. 4." 



" XXXVIII. The conceptions of the Biirmas rela- 

 " tive to the reproduction of a world now come to be 

 " explained. As we have Iben, they allege three 

 " caufes of deftru6tion, fire, rain, and wind; but, ac- 

 " cording to them, the only caufc of reproduftion is 

 '* rain. One AJfenchiekat after the deftrutlion of a 

 " world rain begins to fall like muftard feed, and in- 

 " creafes by degrees till each drop becomes 1000 

 ^'' juzana in fize. This rain fills all the fpace, which 

 " had been formerly occupied by the deftroyed habi- 

 " tations, and even a greater: for by the wind it is 

 '' gradually infpiffatcd to the precife bulk of the for- 

 " mer worlds. The rains, thus infpiffated by the 

 " wind, form on their furface a cruft, out of which 

 " ariib, firft, the habitations of the Zian^ and then 

 " Mienmo^ with all the abodes of the Nat who dwell 

 " near that mountain. The rain continuing to be in- 

 " fpiflated, forms our earth, with the mountain Zct- 

 " chiavala, and finally all the other 1,010,000; and 

 " all thefe are exa6:ly in the fame difpofition, order, 

 " fituation, and form, which they had in their former 

 " exiftence. Thefe changes, both in the dcftructioii 

 ^' and reproduftion of worlds, take place, not by the 

 *' influence of any creative power, but are occafioned 

 " by the power Damata, which is bed tranUated by 

 ♦' pur word fate." 



R3 ^- XXXIX, 



