TO THE COURT OF AVA. 
153 
ing on board, but the younger members of the 
party took possession of the house; and I sent 
the European guard ashore, where their com¬ 
fort could be more attended to. 
When we arrived, a great concourse of peo¬ 
ple, notwithstanding the attempts of the officers 
to keep them away, had crowded down to the 
bank to see the steam-vessel and the strangers. 
Their behaviour, as we passed through the 
crowd in landing, as well as before and after 
this, was entirely decorous and respectful. In¬ 
deed, not a single indication had occurred of an 
unfriendly or hostile spirit, on the part of the 
people, from our quitting Rangoon until our 
arrival at the capital. Among the spectators 
were a great many priests ; although the indul¬ 
gence of curiosity, laudable or otherwise, is a 
thing expressly forbidden by the rules of their 
order. 
We performed the journey from Rangoon 
to Ava in thirty days, and might have made it 
in about twenty, without difficulty, had we not 
been detained for the first few days by towing 
a heavy boat, and halted frequently. The dis¬ 
tance, according to Colonel Wood’s map, is 
four hundred and forty-six miles. According 
to the vessel’s log, we ran two hundred and 
sixteen hours; and taking our average rate of 
going at five and a-half knots, with an allow- 
