1839.] Specimen of the Burmese Drama. 551 



The news of the young prince's arrival being communicated to the 

 king, he is very angry that a mortal should presume to enter his coun- 

 try and lay claim to his daughter ; he therefore orders that he be made to 

 ride upon some wild horses and elephants, and the young prince ac- 

 quitting himself surprisingly well in training them, the king promises 

 to give him his daughter, if he can shoot an arrow from one of the 

 bows of the palace. The prince shoots an arrow with ease and dex- 

 terity ; but the king insists upon another trial — he obliges the prince to 

 select the little finger of Manan from amongst those of her sisters, 

 which are thrust to him through a screen ; this also the prince does, by 

 the assistance of the King of Nats. 



Art. II. — On the Bora Chung, or Ground Fish of Bootan. 

 To the Secretaries to the Asiatic Society. 



Gentlemen, — The following account of the Bora Chung or as 

 it may be called, the Ground-Fish of Bootan, is so extraordinary, as to be 

 worthy I think of the attention of the Asiatic Society, for so far as 

 I know it is new. I am indebted for it to Mr. Russell, of Rungpore. 



The Bora Chung is a thick cylindrical fish, with a body somewhat 

 like a pike but thicker, with a snub n jse, and grows from three pounds 

 weight, to a length of two feet. The colour is olive green, with orange 

 stripes ; and the head speckled with crimson spots. It is eaten by the 

 natives of Bootan, and said to be delicious. 



The Bora Chung is found in Bootan, on the borders of the Chaii 

 Nuddee, which falls into the river Dhallah, a branch of which runs 

 into the Teestah at Paharpore. It is not immediately on the brink of 

 the water, however, that the fish is caught, but in perfectly dry places, 

 in the middle of a grass jungle, sometimes as far as two miles from 

 the river. The natives search this jungle till they find a hole, about 

 four or five inches in diameter, and into it they insert a stick to 

 guide their digging a well, which they do till they come to the water ; 

 a little cow-dung is then thrown into the water, when the fish rises to 

 the surface. Mr. Russell has known them to be from six to nine- 

 teen feet deep in the earth. 



Mr. Russell describes their other habits as not less curious. They 

 are invariably found in pairs, two in each hole ; never more nor less. 

 He has not met with any less than three to four pounds ; but as before 

 said, they grow to the length of two feet. He has seen them go 

 along the ground, with a serpentine motion, very fast, though the 

 natives say they never voluntarily rise above the surface. In some 



4 c 



