TO THE COURT OF AYA. 
217 
site to Ava, and in former times, twice over, the 
seat of the Barman Government. We passed 
through the town, and went as far as the range 
of hills between two and three miles behind it; 
but as the rain recommenced almost immedi¬ 
ately, we had little opportunity for observation 
The town is a large, straggling place, where the 
houses are thinly scattered among groves of 
fruit-trees, with temples and monasteries innu¬ 
merable. A considerable portion of the inhabi¬ 
tants are Cassay captives, or their descendants. 
This race is easily known from the Burmans, by 
their more regular and handsome features, which 
have a good deal of the Hindu cast. These peo¬ 
ple are not, however, genuine Hindus, but, as if 
it were, a mixture between these and the Bur- 
mans : their complexion is fairer than that of 
the inhabitants of Bengal, and a few of the 
young women whom we now saw were really 
handsome. That portion of the range of hills 
behind Sagaing, which lies next to the town, 
is composed of a coarse blue and white marble, 
and furnishes the material of all the lime which 
is used at the capital and its neighbourhood. 
Oct. 20 .—Yesterday Dr. Wallich and I made 
a long water-excursion, which carried us round 
the town and its suburbs, which we thus deter¬ 
mined to be situated on an island. We first 
