TO THE COURT OF AVA. 
527 
sisted of an invocation to the Nat Udin-main-so, 
the genius of elephant-hunting, whom I men¬ 
tioned yesterday. Between the walls of the 
town and an artificial mount planted with trees, 
and raised upon a ledge of rocks jetting into 
the Irawadi, there is a small elephant paddock, 
consisting of a single square palisade having two 
gates. The King sat under a little pavilion on 
the side of the mount, and directed in person 
the ceremony to which I allude. A banana 
tree had been planted in the middle of the pad- 
dock, which was removed with great ceremony ; 
and on the spot where it stood, five elderly 
persons came forward, with a solemn strut and 
dance, holding in their hands branches of a spe¬ 
cies of eugenia or jambu, and carrying offerings 
of rice and sweetmeats to the Nat. I could not 
learn the exact words of the incantation ; but 
the substance of it was, that the demi-god was 
informed that a glorious prince, the descendant 
of great kings, presided at the present ceremony; 
that he, the demi-god, therefore, was requested 
to be propitious to it, to get the elephants quick¬ 
ly into the pen, and generally to lend his aid 
throughout the whole ceremony. About two- 
and-thirty female elephants, with their young 
included, were now driven into the enclosure : 
they were shortly followed by four male ele- 
