352 Memoir of Giuseppe (V Am ato. [Arc. 



court would be considered as a set of the greatest barbarians by 

 every civilized nation, if works of such a description, belonging to 

 a priest, were not forthcoming-. The king repeatedly ordered every 

 search to be made, and the ministers, to do them justice, exerted 

 themselves to recover the books, but without success. Mengagyee 

 denied all knowledge of them, and had me taken into the inner 

 apartments of his house to prove to me that they contained no such 

 drawings as those belonging to D'Amato. I believe the king and 

 his ministers were sincere in their desire of recovering the books ; but 

 I am sorry to say, that I have never been able to discover what has 

 really become of them, although, supposing that they might have 

 fallen into the hands of some private individual, I offered a very large 

 pecuniary reward to any one who would produce them. It was 

 pleasing to see, when I gave up the inquiry, with what pious and 

 Christian-like resignation poor D'Amato submitted to this loss of the 

 fruits of so many years' labour. 



D'Amato is to be buried in great state, and his body is preserved in 

 honey, until the whole of the Christians in this quarter can assemble, 

 and pay the last honors to the remains of their venerated pastor. 



I may mention here, that the inhabitants of the five Catholic vil- 

 lages in the district of Dibayen are the descendants of certain French 

 and other prisoners, whom Alompra took at Syriam, in 1756, and 

 brought up and settled here. Many of these Christians still show their 

 descent in the light colour of their hair and eyes ; but besides the 

 descendants of the Syriam captives, it is reported, that in those 

 villages, and at another village near Mouttshobo, there are many 

 persons with light-coloured hair and eyes, who have a tradition, that 

 their fathers were shipwrecked somewhere on the coast of Arracan, 

 and brought up and detained in this part of the country, so far back 

 as in the reign of some fortieth king from the present monarch. 

 Possibly some of them may be descended from those English 

 establishments which Dairy mple relates as having existed at Ava 

 and to the northward, on the borders of China, about the beginning 

 of the 17th century. 



In the month of June, last year, D'Amato was joined by two 

 young colleagues from Rome. They came to Rangoon via Egypt; 

 and the Red Sea, accompanied by a Bishop of Ava by name Frede- 

 rico Cao, and another priest, who are now residing at Moulmein. 

 The two priests who have come up here, Antonio Ricca and Domingo 

 Tarali, are natives of Italy, and appear to be intelligent, amiable 

 young men. The Pope must have strengthened his Ecclesiastical 



