TO THE COURT OF AYA. 
61 
his devotions, struck these bells three or four 
times with some large deer’s antlers, which 
lay on the ground near them. What the ob¬ 
ject of this part of the ceremony was, I know 
not. The only ludicrous objects presented in 
the temple were the figures of menials, or ser¬ 
vants, representing porters or slaves, receiving, 
upon a dish placed on the head, the offerings 
of the pious. These, we observed, w r ere often 
made of a red sandstone, which is said to be 
abundant near Prome. 
The town of Prome is situated on the right 
bank of the Irawadi, on a narrow plain lying 
between the hills and the river. It is composed 
of the Myo, or fort, being a common square 
stockade, resembling that of Rangoon, but 
larger; and of two suburbs, the one lying east 
and the other west of it, along the banks of 
the river. As at Rangoon, the suburbs, con¬ 
sisting each of one long street, appear to con¬ 
tain the principal population. The Myo con¬ 
tains two streets, running parallel to each 
other, and to the river. In these the houses 
are but few and scattered, and the principal 
part of the area is occupied by gardens, or 
rather by patches of ground, occupied by fruit 
or ornamental trees, or coarse esculent vegeta¬ 
bles, such as gourds, pumpkins, and cucum- 
