TO THE COURT OF AYA. 
15 
brutal and rigorous practices which are so con¬ 
genial to the character of the Government. 
One of his principal commanders was a com¬ 
mandant of the palace, an officer of high rank. 
This person, who had been guilty of some 
breach of discipline, or disobedience of orders, 
he caused to be put to death, by sawing him 
asunder,—the body of the sufferer being, for 
this purpose, placed between two planks. 
Sept. 6.—We stopped all day at Donabew, 
laying in a supply of fire-wood, and waiting 
the arrival of the two gun-boats, which had 
been unable to keep up with us. At day¬ 
break this morning, after writing letters and 
dispatches for Bengal and Rangoon, we pro¬ 
ceeded on our journey. We found the stream 
rapid, running probably not less than four 
miles an hour, and had no wind to assist the 
boats. The weather was generally clear, and 
we had very little rain. When calm, it was 
sultry, and the thermometer occasionally rose 
to ninety degrees. More generally, however, 
it did not exceed eighty-three degrees, and the 
nights were cool and agreeable. Impeded in 
our progress by a heavy accommodation-boat 
which we had in tow, and finding it dan¬ 
gerous, when it became dark, to approach the 
shore, for the purpose of avoiding the most 
