1868.] On the History of the Burma Race. 87 



an ordinary man, he was kiug of tins country. The present king 

 killed him and deprived him of the kingdom. Yon were then in the 

 womb, and I, fearing that I would be taken possession of by him, 

 escaped and hid myself at this place, where you were born.' Kyiing- 

 phyu on hearing this, made a vow, saying, ' May I succeed to the place 

 of my royal father.' He then went to the city, and waited upon the 

 reigning king. The king bestowed upon him the right to gather betel 

 leaves* in the village or township of Let-htup. There the future 

 king quietly supported and comforted his mother. Daily when he 

 went out early on his occupation, his mother packed up for him his 

 daily food. He used to open this bundle and eat his food beneath a 

 tsiing-gyan tree. Before eating any of his food, a handful of it was 

 daily laid at the root of the tree in honour of the guardian Nat. The 

 Nat thus pondered, ' This young man daily presents to me the first 

 portion of his meal, what will happen to him hereafter ?' He saw 

 that the young man before long would become a king. He therefore 

 appeared to Kwon-tshau and said, ' You have presented to me daily 

 the first portion of your food ; if you wish to be a great man, adhere 

 to the worship of the Phra, and observe the five religious duties, 

 always tell the truth, and repeat the ten a-nu-tha-ti two thousand 

 times every day. Henceforth he habitually observed these instruc- 

 tions. Considering this event it is proper to remember that religion 

 was not altogether extinguished at Pugan. From that time the 

 Thagya and all the Nats who support religion, assisted Kwon Tshau 

 and it began to be noised abroad that a Meng-lung, (embryo-king) 

 would appear at Pugan. As he was expected to appear upon a cer- 

 tain day, all the people went in a body on that day to the hill called 

 Tu-ywen-diing, to meet him. The Kwon-tshau resolved also to 

 collect the betel leaves early in the morning, and go to see the Menc- 

 lung. He therefore begged his mother to pack up his food earlier 

 than usual. His mother did accordingly. He took the packet and 

 went to Let-htup village before daylight, and having collected the 

 betel leaves quickly, he made his way to Pugan to see the Men fa- 

 lling. A Thagya, in the disguise of an old man riding on horseback, 

 came and said to the Kwon-tshau, ' Young man, I have business here 



* Hence the term Kwon-tshau, and Kyiingphyu the place of his birth com- 

 bined in the name of this king. 



