88 
Route from Pekang-yeh 
[March 
dead are carried : if the superiors of any tribe or village, they are burnt, and their 
ashes being collected in a basket of bamboo, are then interred ; a small house is 
erected over the spot, and covering the grave is a rudely carved image of the de- 
ceased, laid horizontally, which is supposed to ward off evil spirits. If the deceased 
is poor, he is buried without any distinction of place, unless in the immediate vici- 
nity of the holy mountain. Those tribes inhabiting the tract of mountains near the 
Main river, carry and burn their dead at the hill of Hanlatain, which is likewise 
deemed sacred. 
Death is not looked upon as an event to be regretted ; on the contrary, on the 
demise of any member of a family, the whole assemble and testify their joy, in 
f .-M i-1 1 1 - * » ism n d d n I VI M , n i'. % /I 4- ♦ 4 1 . ,, / v I, r— 1 1 1 , ^ 4- l . « 1-. . h 4 
feast being always the finale to any thing extraordinary. 
Marriage is a mere tacit agreement between the parties, and is annulled by 
the otfending party paying a fine to the other. Adultery is not looked upon as 
very criminal, the damages to the injured husband being an ox, a spear, and a string 
of cowries, he taking back if he pleases the faithless fair one, who is thus restored 
to her original purity. The bridegroom, having chosen his future helpmate, makes 
a present to her father of an ox, a spear, a pig, a sword, tabor, and a gourd of 
liquor; the bride is then handed over to him, and the day is spent in rejoicing and 
feasting ; all the village, young and old, being invited. 
Unlawful intercourse between the sexes is punished by the male offender paying 
the fine of an ox to the parents of the female delinquent: if she proves pregnant, 
and her seducer does not choose to marry her, he is obliged to keep the child and 
pay to her the forfeit of a bullock, which latter arrangement restores her to her fair 
fame : marriage, however, is the general result. If the daughter of a chief is seduced, 
three bullocks is the price of her chastity, and the same law holds good in the event 
of her pregnancy ; only if no marriage takes place, the man is mulct in damages of 
three oxen. Incest is a very rare and uncommon crime, but is absolved by the 
offenders paying an ox to their father. 
Murder is punished by the offender giving up three men as slaves to the friends 
of the deceased ; if lie be unable to do so, which is generally the case, 30 rupees 
(or tickals ) a head is taken as a substitute ; should he be so poor as to be incapable 
of doing either, he is taken as a slave himself, nor can lie afterwards be ransomed. 
Should a murderer escape and take refuge in any village, it is immediately required 
to give him up, and seldom refuses ; but should it do so, the friends of the murdered 
person, assisted by their fellow villagers, carry arms againstit, and never cease until 
one party is completely defeated, their village burnt, and totally ransacked and 
plundered. Should the murderer be retaken, he does not share the fate of his 
defenders, but is only kept in continued slavery, his original punishment 
Theft of grain is punished by the thief paying 30 tickals , if the value of the 
article is below that sum ; if above it, 60 tickals , and so on in proportion. If unable 
to P*y> " e 1S ta ken as a slave by the person from whom the grain was stolen nor 
caD he redeem his liberty. ‘ * 
Silver coin, which is used among them in a very small proportion, is obtained 
from the inhabitants of the plains in exchange for the scanty produce of the moun- 
tains, which consists m honey, bees’ wax, iron ore, and smoked fish ; together with 
a coarse cloth, manufactured from the wild cotton by the women, who take charge 
of all domestic concerns, and are consequently very valuable, which is a principal 
reason for the men prefenng marriage in case of a faux pas, to the mulct of keep- 
mg ie child or paying the ox : in fact, these forfeitures are merely nominal as not 
Tm P U rdef- LTtUk^r <lrfd ° f ^ 1>0 . 0r * >eo P le could P a V 3 '° for theft 
Enumerated Zt Si L y * Z Servlce ; Dor are the crimes which have been 
i ? J1 common among them. The faces of the females are rendered 
particularly hideous from being tattooed completely over with a blue colour which 
extraordinary practice had its origin in the following curious ^circumstance ’ 
oppr^sion^amoi^Etlw^wikf ^res^i^f^he'mount^ 6 Pl TV° "* “ “y*™> 
Government still followed them and dem.EdSd E’ S. t >' rilnr,y of the Burmese 
unable to pay in specie, a c'rS nlb£ 
to grace, with their mountain freshness tl l , f 1 tal ^ n as concubines, 
was this barbarity carried that it nrnm!^ 1 ! f, n the king. To such an extent 
last the women, “determining to^ ^sacrmop u ^ * he faction of the race, fill at 
nutted to be tattooed and disfigured' Thf ? J beautJ I tlie shrine of liberty, sub- 
v u anu atsftgurecU The first presentation of these newly featured 
