184 
Account of the Chinese Caravans > t^c. 
[June, 
The Chinese trade is under the superintendence of the Queen’s brother, Men-za- 
gyee, who finds it a very profitable department. His officers at Madd assured rne> 
that the number of traders arrived this year, amounted to 5000, and that the value 
of each trader’s investment does not average more than 20 ticals. 
But the most extraordinary circumstance which I discovered in regard to these 
Chinese traders is, that almost the whole of them are Mahommedans. A few only 
who import hams are not ; the rest are regular Mahommedans, refusing to eat with 
the Burmese, and killing their meat according to Mahommedan rites. Several of them 
can read a little Arabic ; one man produced a religious work in that language, and 
read several passages to me in a loud chanting tone. They informed me, that they 
possess regular Mahommedan priests and temples at Tali and Pheng-ye ; but they 
could give me no account of the time when, or the manner in which they were con- 
verted to the Mahommedan religion, observing only that this event occurred a great 
many years ago. 
Many of the Caravans make two trips in the year ; but about 10 days journey 
from Ava, there is another mart, to which many of these traders carry one load of 
cotton, and return for a second. All the traders wear a bandage of cloth round 
their ancles, and half way up to their knees, in order to protect their legs, theysay> 
from thorns or other injury during their journey. The dialect spoken by these 
traders is not understood by the Macas or Canton Chinamen here. 
I have taken great pains to explain to these traders the advantage of some of their 
Caravans going down to Moulmein, showing them the route, and assuring them that 
they would obtain much larger prices for their hams and honey, and every other 
description of goods, as well as much better returns, particularly money, to take 
back with them to China. Pheng-ye is close to the upper part of the Salueen, and 
wei e a Bi itish post established as high up that river, as lat. 20 °, I make no doubt 
that some of these Caravans would be soon drawn down to Moulmein. Zen-may, 
which traders from Yunan annually visit in the same manner as they come here, is 
to the southward of 20 degrees of latitude. 
Marsden, in his notes on Marco Polo, supposes that the city of Mien, conquered 
by the Tartars, m 1272, “ must have been the old city of Ava, or some one of earlier 
tunes and beseems, from some coincidence of dates, to give the preference to Pagahm 
(pp. 448, 449.) But according to Burmese historians, old Ava was not founded until 
the year 1364, and Pagahm is much more than 15 day's journey from the confines 
China, or pi ov ince of \ unan. The Chinese traders told me, that the large dogs, 
which they bring down with them, are the natives of a country about 40 day’s jour- 
T ’ hen " _ y e ' These animals are, most probably, of the same breed of 
Thibet dogs, which Marco Polo, and Turner, in his Embassy to Thibet, notice; al- 
though certamly none of those brought here are so large as - asses." (Marco Polo, 
Jr: °/! h f e f hinese , tr “ dcrs invited to accompany them to T,heng-ye and 
and ’ ee aa su >' e <l. that if a good understanding continue between the Burmese 
, '’. rSe VCS ’ e P Jn ot P cnetrat,n g into China by this route of Yunan, maybe 
adopted some day, by an enterprising European. The Chinese traders call the spot 
where these caravans stop, Khintovan f mm „ „ „ traders can me , 
Burmese Kywon-day-uen. In Sir G St um f . "“*** near mmi C 
bassv tn rhino ( i o i oon inton s Account of Lord Macartney’s Em- 
by the Em lie n ’ fl ’ ° ’ P i edition >) lt ^ be seen, that the tea used 
»y the Emperor of China, and highly nri^pH 
southern province of Yunan, made up i„ t0 b , lls '‘’“'T 1 ' S the P rodu “ of "f 
and supposed thus better to preserve its original’ fl” °* “ S “ ’ 
