44 
JOURNAL OF AN EMBASSY 
with the followers of Buddha,) with a few 
cocoa and areca palms. Scattered houses con¬ 
nect the villages of Kanaong and Myan-aong. 
Throughout the whole distance now alluded 
to, perhaps in all about twelve miles, the 
banks of the river are higher than immedi¬ 
ately to the north and south of it, and in some 
situations were two and even three feet above 
the highest inundation of the river. 
Myan-aong was formerly called Loonzay 
(Lwan-ze,) and we found that it was still fa¬ 
miliar to the natives under this name. Myan- 
aong means 44 speedy victory,” and is an appel¬ 
lation bestowed upon it by Alompra, who fixed 
here his head quarters, when, in the year 1754, 
he was in the full career of his victories over 
the Peguans. Myan-aong is the largest place 
we had seen since leaving Rangoon. Dr. Bu¬ 
chanan Hamilton describes it, thirty years ago, 
as extending two miles along the bank of the 
river. Its extent now was scarcely less than 
this ; but, like the other villages, it consisted 
of little more than a single row of houses upon 
the very bank. The same writer states, that he 
saw not less than two hundred trading vessels, 
of not less than sixty tons burthen each, lying 
at the place. We saw a good many trading 
boats, but nothing like this number, nor any 
