108 
JOURNAL OF AN EMBASSY 
the dawn, and according to the season of the year, 
more or fewer of the divisions in question are al¬ 
lotted, respectively to the day or the night. The 
longest day or night consists of thirty-six Naris, 
and the shortest of twenty-four. A popular divi¬ 
sion of the day is into eight watches, of which four 
are allotted to the night, and as many to the day. 
Each watch consists of three hours; and the day, 
thus reckoned, commences with the dawn. The 
time-keeper employed by the Burmese is a copper 
cup, perforated at the bottom, and placed in a vase 
of water, which sinks to a particular mark at the 
close of each Nan, when a great bell, suspended 
from a tall belfry close to the palace, is struck. 
This mode of keeping time is evidently derived 
from the Hindus. There is a regular establish¬ 
ment at Ava for this particular service; in refer¬ 
ence to which there is a curious custom observed 
from time immemorial among the persons employ¬ 
ed in this service. If the person in immediate 
charge of the time-keeper commit any error, his 
companions are at liberty to carry him off and 
sell him at once in the public market. The sale, 
however, is merely a mock one, the price being 
always fixed at a very trifling amount, so that 
the offender may easily ransom himself without 
much difficulty; and, in fact, he does so, by 
making his companions a present of some rice, 
fish, and other necessaries. The Burmese have, 
