140 
JOURNAL OF AN EMBASSY 
for labour, the females being exclusively re- 
served for breeding. They are seldom milked, 
as the Burmans generally do not use this ar¬ 
ticle for diet. This circumstance may probably 
account for the general superiority of the Bur- 
man cattle over those of Bengal. They are fed 
upon rice, chopped straw, and oil-cake; but, 
considering the scantiness of the vegetation, 
they must be poorly off in the dry season. 
During that time, I am told that the leaves of 
the fig and other trees are had recourse to for 
fodder. The price of a pair of bullocks at 
Kyauk-ta-long varies, according to quality, from 
thirty ticals up to one hundred, each tical of 
one rupee, or two shillings. A cow does not 
cost above eight or ten ticals, and a bull may 
be had at from five to nine. At Kyauk-ta- 
long, and a few other places close to the capital, 
ghee, or clarified butter, for the consumption of 
strangers residing at Ava and Rangoon, is pre¬ 
pared in small quantity. The principal place 
where this is done is the village of Ngazwan, 
four or five miles below Kyauk-ta-long, on the 
same side of the river. Many of its inhabitants 
are a colony of Hindoos from the Coromandel 
coast, dressing as Burmans, using the Burman 
language, but still following the religion of their 
own country. On the opposite side of the river 
