m 
by a Slave of the King^s Eldest Son. 
and Manaun being on two islands, and not on the Continent. 
The kingdom of Rakhain, now subject to Ava, has at times 
been very powerful, and has extended all over the western por- 
tion of the peninsula ; for besides numerous rude tribes, and 
several petty chiefs of Hindu origin, it had subjected the Sak- 
mas or original inhabitants of Chatigang, the Tripuras, who in- 
habited the eastern bank of the Brahmaputra in the lower part 
of its course, and the Asam, who held both sides of this great 
river higher up in its course. 
East from the southern part of the Rakhain country, between 
it and the territory of Ava and Pago, we have a mountainous 
tract, occupied by a rude tribe called Karaen by the Mranmas, 
and probably the original inhabitants of all the country east from 
thence to the frontier of Siam. The woods every where on the 
hills between Prin and Taunu, and south from thence to the sea, 
are occupied by these simple people, who carry on most of the 
cultivation, and supply the wants of the Mranmas and other in- 
habitants of the towns : so that betv/een Prin and Rangoon, I 
scarcely observed any cultivation, but what was the labour of the 
Karasn. 
East from the southern part of the mountains occupied by 
the Khiaen and Karaen, is the country of the people by the 
Mranmas called Talain, and by themselves Mon. By Euro- 
peans this country is called Pegu, from its capital, the Pago of 
the Mranmas, several of whose monarchs have resided in this 
city, and the Mranmas now form a large proportion of the 
whole inhabitants of the country, many of the Talain or Mon 
having retired to the kingdom which we call Siam, where they 
are much encouraged, their men being eminent for acuteness of 
understanding, and their women for agreeable manners. 
North from the country of the Talain, on both sides of the 
Era wadi and Khiaendusen, is the proper country of the Mran- 
mas, who, for two centuries past, have in general been the most 
pow’erful nation in the peninsula ; but acknowledge a descent 
from the Mranmas of Rakhain. Their country by Euro- 
peans is commonly called the Kingdom of Ava, from a cor- 
rupt pronunciation of ^Enwa, the vulgar name for the ca- 
pital ; and the names Mranina, Burma, Birma and Brahma, 
often given to the nation, are all probably corruptions of Mara- 
VOL. II. Xp. 4 . APRIL 1820 . 
s 
