TO THE COURT OF AVA. 
135 
tion of the population of Ava and Amarapura 
consists of captives from Cassay, Cachar, and 
Assam, or their descendants, and the greater 
number are either slave-debtors or as free as the 
rest of the inhabitants. Prisoners of war, upon 
the whole, seem to be much better treated by 
the Burmese than by the Siamese. In Ava we 
neither saw nor heard of any who were condemned 
to work in chains, as we did in Siam. 
The law in respect to slaves is fully detailed in 
the Burmese code; and in the case of slave debt¬ 
ors, regularly written bonds are always drawn up, 
attested by and always made under the autho¬ 
rity of some public officer. All this constitutes 
a slave code, which is not very harsh or rigorous. 
The common slavery and humble equality of the 
great mass of the people, contribute, no doubt, to 
its mildness. 
The class of outcasts has been described in my 
Journal. It consists of the following descriptions 
of persons, whose condition, however, differs very 
considerably:—the slaves of the pagodas — the 
burners of the dead—the gaolers and executioners 
—lepers and other incurables — maimed and muti¬ 
lated persons—and prostitutes. These all labour, 
more or less, under civil disabilities, and, what is 
closely allied to it in this country, religious inter¬ 
dicts. The condition of the slaves of the pagodas 
has already been described; they are known to the 
Burmans under the name of Kywan-thi-d’hau or 
