TO THE COURT OF AVA. 
225 
second, uncle to the King. Next came Men- 
thagyi, the Queen’s brother; and the last, as the 
highest in rank, was the Prince of Sarawadi, the 
King’s only full brother. The Prince of Sara¬ 
wadi had ten gold umbrellas; and the Queen’s 
brother, ranking next to him, eight. The offi¬ 
cers and princes were each preceded by a certain 
number of their followers : they were seated in 
canopied litters open to the sides, and their ele¬ 
phants and led horses followed them. The Go¬ 
vernment officers used their umbrellas as far as 
the gate of the Palace ; here they dismounted, 
leaving their umbrellas, litters, and retinue out¬ 
side, with the exception of one or two attend¬ 
ants. The princes of the blood entered the Pa¬ 
lace gate in their litters, with their umbrellas 
spread, but left their retinues outside, including 
armed followers, which they alone were permit¬ 
ted to have. The number of retainers which ac¬ 
companied the different chiefs was in proportion 
to their respective ranks and consequence. The 
most numerous retinue by far was that of the 
Queen’s brother, which amounted to at least 
four hundred: among them I observed twenty 
or thirty men carrying firelocks, and clothed in 
the jackets of English sepoys, which, from their 
appearance, I imagine to have belonged to the 
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