133 7. ] Some account of the Wars between Burmah and China. 417 



shewn to us were representations only of our deity, and observing that 

 those varying in form were copied from various forms which Gaudama had 

 assumed when in this world, we bowed down and worshipped them. There 

 were seven monasteries. In that first shewn to us, there were 200 priests 

 dressed in yellow, and in another to the westward about 500. 



" On the 6th October we were invited to an entertainment given in some 

 temporary buildings in a garden. We went before 6 o'clock, and the 

 emperor came about half past 7 in an open sedan chair. He was dressed 

 as follows: — On the top of his head-dress there was a pearl ; on the four 

 sides of his silk dress there was the figure of a dragon, and round his 

 neck hung a string of pearls. He took his seat on a l-oyal chair of the 

 form of a dragon, and about a cubit high, and the officers of his court pre- 

 sented to him cups of spirits and cups of milk. The Wun-gyih H6-tsou'n- 

 teng and Kou'n-ye'-thu' and Thi-ta'-yin stood on the right and left of 

 the emperor with swords in their hands. To the right and left were 

 placed tables with all kinds of cakes, and we sat down on the right hand 

 with the Wun-gyih Ho-tsou'n-teng behind the chiefs of the 48 Tartar 

 countries, and ate and drank. After the soft music and dancing, which 

 were according to the Chinese, Tartar, and Kula fashions, the emperor 

 returned home. The silks and gold cloths^ which had been arranged on 

 the left hand, were distrib uted in pi'esents to the princes of Tartary, and 

 those on the right hand were distributed by the Wun-gyih Kou'n-yk'-thu'* 

 to us according to our respective ranks, and to the officers appointed to 

 take care of us. All kinds of curious cloths, &c. intended for presents to 

 the king of Ava, were also shewn and delivered to us. 



" A little after 3 o'clock, on the afternoon of the same day, the emperor 

 of China again came out, and we saw an exhibition of tumblers on poles 

 and fireworks, and then returned home. 



" The emperor having directed us on this last day to go to Pekin, we left 

 Zhehol on the 7th of October, and arrived at Pekin on the 12th October, 

 taking up our residence in some temporary buildings erected on a plain 

 within the southern gateway of the city, where we were attended and sup- 

 plied with provisions by the same men as before. 



" On the 13th, the emperor having directed that the ambassadors should 

 be lodged near him, and that their provisions should be supplied from 

 within the palace, we moved, on the following day, and took up our resi- 

 dence on a royal plaint, near the road leading to the southward from the 

 western gateway of the wall surrounding the palace. On the 15th the 

 emperor came to Pekin, and we accompanied the Chinese officers to a tem- 

 porary building in the lake, where there is a palace, in order to receive his 

 majesty. On the morning of the 20th we attended the emperor, by invi- 



* This officer was not a Wun-gyih or First Minister of State, as will be seen in 

 the list of Wun-gjilis hereafter given, but the Burmese ambassadors repeatedly 

 given him this title. 



f Apparently a plain on which princes encamp or live when they visit Pekin. 



