TO THE COU11T OF AVA. 
267 
the Prince at the moment for this purpose by 
one of the chiefs. We retired soon after this* 
and returned home. In the court, before the 
Prince’s house, there was an exhibition of 
dancing-girls and puppets, both as we entered 
and retired, and the din of Burman music was 
uninterrupted from the moment of our arrival 
until that of our departure. The issue of this 
visit was gratifying to us, and, I am told, gave 
satisfaction to the Heir-apparent and his friends. 
In the way of ceremonial, we complied volun¬ 
tarily with every thing that was proper or even 
expected of us, and the public officers found 
that their officiousness was superfluous when we 
were left to ourselves. 
Through the influence of his step-mother, 
the Prince’s establishment is at present kept 
upon a very humble footing. Through the 
same influence, still more than on account of his 
youth, he as yet occupies no ostensible place un¬ 
der Government, and is only called Heir-appa¬ 
rent by courtesy ; not having yet been invested 
with the title, which is the practice of the Bur- 
man Government. The proper title of the Heir- 
apparent of the Burman Empire is Ingshe-men, 
which literally means “ lord of the east house 
but the origin of this title I have not been able 
to ascertain. The present Prince is sometimes 
