408 Some account of the Wars between Burmah and China. [June, 



many points with that observed at the audience given by the present 

 king of Ava to the British Resident, on his first arrival at Ava in 

 1830, I extract a description of it from the 33rd volume of the Bur- 

 mese Chronicles : 



"On Tuesday, the 3rd of April, 1787, the king of Ava (Men:dara:- 

 gyi'h) received a report from the Tso:buah and officers of Theinni, that a 

 Chinese embassy, consisting of upwards of 300 men with E-tsho:ye' as the 

 chief envoy, had arrived at Theinni, with a letter on gold and costly pre- 

 sents from the emperor of China, for the purpose of establishing peace 

 and friendship between the two great countries. His Majesty ordered 

 the Chinese embassy to be conveyed to the capital (at that time Amara- 

 piiraj by the road leading from Theinni through Thibo, Maing:toUn, 

 Maing-.kaing, Yauk-zauk, Pwe-lha, and Yud:ngan, down by the Nat-t,heit 

 pass and the road along the southern paddy lands (Taung-bhetlay). — 

 The Chinese mission accordingly left Theinni on Sunday, the 6th of May, 

 1787, and on reaching Nyaung-ni-beng (red pepul tree), embarked in 

 boats (on the Myit-ngay) and came to Yan-aung ghat at Amarapura, 

 where they landed and took possession of the buildings constructed for 

 their accommodation. The emperor of China's letter was duly translated 

 on Tuesday, the 29th May ; and on Sunday, the 3rd of June, the embassy 

 was received by the king in the following manner : — ■ 



" The streets and lanes of Amarapura having been ornamented, the offi- 

 cers of the Lhuot-to and Youn-do*, dressed in their uniforms with ear- 

 rings, having taken their proper places within those buildings ; the white 

 elephant, and Shue-wen, the elephant rode by the king, and other ele- 

 phants with all their trappings, on being drawn out, and the body guard 

 and other troops formed in front of the Lhuot-to and hall of audience, and 

 within the court-yard of the palace, the Chinese ambassadors were 

 brought from their house at the Yan-aung ghat in the following order: — 

 First, two officers with long rods ; then musqueteers to the right and left ; 

 then, seated upon an elephant, the king's writer, Yanda-meit-gyo-den, 

 dressed in full uniform, bearing an octagon betel cup containing the em- 

 peror of China's letter ; next a sedan chair with the box containing the 

 images of Byamhd ; then a sedan chair with a box of royal presents ; then 

 another sedan chair with another box of presents ; then ten horses intend- 

 ed as presents ; and then followed the principal Chinese ambassador, 

 E-tsho:ye', mounted on an elephant with housings of scarlet broad cloth 

 edged with silk. After him came four of the junior envoys on horseback • 

 and after them, the officers appointed to escort the mission. 



" The procession entered the Tset-shyen gateway on the western face of 



the city, and stopped on reaching the Youn-do. The box bearing the 



royal letter was deposited on a fine white mat with an ornamental border 



spread in the verandah of that building, where the ambassadors also were 



* The house iu which the ministers of state assemble and the Court of justice. 



