TO THE COURT OF AYA. 
245 
a very material one, with which her Majesty 
is popular,—the priesthood. She is devout, and, 
in the sense in which they are interested, cha¬ 
ritable. She builds pagodas and monasteries, 
makes frequent gifts to the established temples, 
bestows largesses upon the priests, and is atten¬ 
tive to all the external forms of religion. The 
King has had but two children by her Majesty, 
-—a prince who died a few months after his birth, 
and the young lady whom we saw upon the 
throne with her parents. The Queen, to strength¬ 
en and preserve her influence, proposes to give 
this princess in marriage to the heir-apparent. 
The marriage between half-brothers and sisters, 
although unknown among the people, and re¬ 
pugnant to their feelings, has been common, it 
appears, among the blood royal from time im¬ 
memorial. 
After sitting a few minutes we retired, put¬ 
ting our shoes on at the head of the stairs, where 
our servants were waiting for us. The same offi¬ 
cers accompanied us as when we entered. Upon 
descending into the court before the palace, we 
had an opportunity of examining more leisurely 
the scene that was here presented, which con¬ 
sisted of an exhibition of dancing-women ; buf¬ 
foons and tumblers in masques and masquerade 
dresses; puppet-shows, state elephants,led horses, 
