1831 .] 
Which annually visit Ava. 
183 
Many of the sweetmeats and dried fruits, and among others, leeches are brought 
in small paper parcels, containing only about a viss or 3$ lbs. each. The hams are 
small but very cheap, selling this year for only 1 tical per viss, or about 8$ 
annas per seer. The honey is most excellent, being beautifully white and pure, 
and as thick as butter. I bought some of this for only 4£ annas per seer. The 
price afterwards rose, from the demand increasing. The Caravans also bring tea 
compressed into round cakes or balls, called by the Burmese stone tea. I observe 
that this kind of tea is used by the Tartars, who call it brick tea ; and that the 
leaves are supposed to be made into these halls or cakes with the serum of sheep’s 
blood. There are two kinds of tea. The one in round balls is said to be the pro- 
duce of the Shan countries, and I think it coarse and bitter. The other, in round 
flat cakes, is the produce of China, and when you are accustomed to the peculiar 
flavour given to it by the mucilaginous substance, or serum , with which it is made 
into cakes, you will think it very fair tea. It sells here for only ^ of tical per 
viss, or about 6^ annas per seer, and is cheaper, and I think better, than the tea 
brought by the Chinese Junks to the Eastern islands. The poor both in England 
and India would be happy to use it, but it is, at present, brought here in very limited 
quantities.. 
Opium also is imported by these Caravans. Before their arrival I had made 
extensive enquiries to ascertain the fact, whether this opium was really the produce 
of China, and I was led to believe that it was nothing more than Company’s opium 
adulterated. No Chinaman here could give me a correct description of the Poppy 
plant, and I learnt that these Caravans buy Company’s opium, and take it back 
with them. But having lately examined several of the Caravans, I am now satisfied, 
that the opium imported by them is really the produce and manufacture of China. 
They immediately recognized the capsule of a Poppy, which was shown to them, 
and described the process of extracting the opium. They assured me also, that the 
Poppy plant has been cultivated for the last 8 or 10 years at a place called Me-doo, 
two days’ journey from Tali, but that the cultivation is limited, and carried on 
secretly, for if the Government of Pekin became aware of it, the cultivators would 
lose their lives. The quantity of opium imported by these Caravans this year, is 
very insignificant. 
Amongst the different articles brought by these Caravans, I was most struck with 
some bales of coarse woollens, which had a piece of lead attached to them, with the 
Company’s arms and manufacturer’s name. The traders assured me, that this 
cloth had been imported at Canton ; that they had given 2£ ticals a cubit for it in 
that part of China, whence they had come ; but that here they could not get 2 
ticals a cubit. I asked the owner of the cloth to give me the piece of lead, bearing 
the Company’s arms, but he o lyected to its being removed from the cloth j showing, 
as I had before heard, that this stamp is much prized by the Chinese. 
The Caravans return with hardly any thing, except cotton wool, which is taken 
up to Madd in large Burmese boats. In January and February these boats could 
not ascend the Irrawadi to within a mile or two of Madd, to a village called 
Theret-mau , where the cotton was transhipped into small canoes, 4 or 5 bales in 
each, and the canoes were pulled up to Mad£. The cotton is brought to Made in 
very large bales, from which it is taken by the Chinese traders, and packed into 
smaller bales, weighing about 120 to 150 lbs. and made so as to fit the backs of 
their mules and ponies. In the absence of cotton screws, this ingenious race com- 
press the cotton into smaller compass by means of pits dug in the ground, over 
which a strong bamboo mat is laid, and the cotton and mat are then torced down 
together, and packed to the size required. 
