204 Journal of a Tour through the Island of Rambree. [April, 



cifying the duties they had paid, to secure them fiom further taxation 

 on their arrival at any intermediate Burmah port. The town of Ram- 

 bree, and indeed the whole island, suffered much in later years in con- 

 sequence of the insurrection of the Mughs, excited hy the Ramu 

 Raja Kimbrang, and only subdued by the energetic conduct of 

 Nemyo-suya'h*. the Burmah chief to whom the Mey-o-wun Saoti'j.v'h 

 had entrusted the defence. This rebellion was followed by a species 

 of retaliation that deprived the town of Rambree of nearly the whole 

 of its Mugh population. All the sdgris, merchants, and others sus- 

 pected of having conspired against the government were put to death, 

 or obliged to fly the country. 



It was the invariable, and, in some instances, necessary policy of 

 the Burmese to trust as little as possible to the good will of the con- 

 quered. Securing their position by a strong stockade, and separating 

 themselves from the inhabitants, they formed a little garrison of their 

 own in Rambree ; within this stockade all affairs both civil and mili- 

 tary were transacted, The Burmah Mey-o-wuns were not, however, 

 inattentive to the comfort of the people, or the embellishment of the 

 town : the large tanks, Kus, and Kioums now seen at Rambree, 

 were either constructed by the Mey-o-wuns, or by those who held 

 situations of emolument, under them. Some of these temples are 

 still existing, unscathed by the hand of man or the less hostile ele- 

 ments. Others, again, have crumbled into dust, the remains of those 

 stupendous monuments that have marked the propagation of the Bud- 

 dhist creed in the most distant parts of the world. Internally they 

 are filled up with earth, the wall being of brick, well cemented toge- 

 ther. Relics of Gautama, such as the hair, feathers, bones, &c. of the 

 several creatures whose form he assumed previous to his becoming 

 man, with gold and silver images, dishes, goblets, and other utensils, 

 are deposited in the interior : a certain portion of each placed in the 

 upper, middle, and lower part of the temple The Kioums at Rambree 

 town are, as might be expected, larger than those commonly met 

 with on the island. One of these attracts attention from its superior 

 size, and the elegance of its construction. It was built by a native of 

 Rambree, named Kombng-shuwb-bo, who had been dewan to the Bur- 

 mah Mey-o-wun Saoti'ja'h, and was one of those to whom suspicion of 

 conspiracy was attached, but saved from death at the intercession of 

 the Chilki\ Moung-bo. Komeng-shuwe-bo was in later years exalted 

 to the office of Mey-o-wun over the island I circles, the Burmah Mey-o- 



* Afterwards Mey-o-wun at Rambree. 

 t The name for the Burmah Superintendent of Police. 



X Mrukyoung, Murajyne, Kweyne- Kgoung , Kyoung-saa-yah, Koukoh, and 

 Mue-du-in-du. 



