TO THE COURT OF AVA. 
137 
badness of the administration is influenced in a 
small degree by the personal character of the 
reigning prince, but the only effectual check on 
the excesses of maladministration is the apprehen¬ 
sion of insurrection. 
The form of the Burman administration may 
be shortly described. In this Government there 
is no Vizier or Prime Minister; but the King has 
two councils, a public and a privy one, through 
which the royal orders are issued. The first of 
these is the highest in rank, and is commonly 
called the Lut-d’hau, or, more correctly written, 
the Lwat-d’hau, from the name of the hall in which 
its business is transacted. The officers who com¬ 
pose it are commonly four in number; but occa¬ 
sionally one or two more of the same rank are add¬ 
ed, when it is necessary to depute, for distant 
service, persons of this dignity, as "was the case 
during our visit, when the Viceroy of Pegu had 
this rank. These officers are named Wun-gyi, 
more correctly written Wun-kri. The word Wun, 
as formerly explained, means a burthen ; but in 
remonstrated with him, saying that it would not stand. The 
architect pertinaciously insisted upon its stability and sufficiency, 
and was committed to prison for contumacy. Shortly afterwards 
the spire fell in a thunder-storm, and about the same time ac¬ 
counts were received at Court of the arrival of the British ex¬ 
pedition ; upon which the architect was sent for from prison, 
taken to the place of execution, and forthwith decapitated. This, 
although upon a small scale, is a fair example both of the des¬ 
potism and superstition by which this people are borne down. 
