The food

meal a day being considered sufficient for his subsistence. is cooked by some of the scholars of the Kioum, or by the newly initiated of the sect; and those Phoongrees who are desirous of maintaining a character for peculiar abstinence, will not even express a desire to satisfy the claims of hunger, however pressing they may be; waiting patiently until such time as food may be presented to them by some inmate of the Kioum: with these are many other observances, all enjoining an uninterrupted course of humiliation and abstinence.

Some of these monasteries are very large, and contain a great many monks, as well as the boys whose education they superintend. They are erected by the villagers, and supply such accommodation as is required. In a remote part of the interior of the Kioum is an image of Gautama. Before this image the Phoongrees prostrate themselves twice a day, and never leave the building without making an obeisance, and intimating their intention to the Routoo: a similar duty is performed on their return. This image is composed of more or less costly materials, according to circumstances. In some Kioums I have seen the Phraa entirely covered with gold or silver leaf; in others again, it is of wood or stone, with little or no ornament whatever. Flowers, rice, and parched grain are the offerings generally made at the shrine of Gautama, either by officiating priests, or any of the laity, as a religious observance, and for the attainment of some particular object of desire.

The assumption of the monastic garb is voluntary; the person who expresses a wish to become a Phoongree is admitted into the convent (without regard to country, or the religion he may formerly have professed), provided he stipulates his readiness to conform to the Buddhist observances in matters of faith and discipline, and there exists no impediment (such as his having a family to support, or his not having obtained the permission of his parents, &c.), to his abandonment of earthly pursuits; sickness, deformity, and a bad character are also sufficient causes for rejection. Should none of these obstacles present themselves, the candidate is admitted into the Kioum, and attired in the prescribed dress, enters upon the duties of a Phoongree. If, as is generally the case, his age shall not have exceeded 15 years, he is appointed to the performance of the menial duties, and gradually initiated in the peculiar tenets of the sect, until he shall have arrived at the age of 20 years, the time appointed for confirmation.

It is not uncommon for a Phoongree to devote only a certain period of his life to the duties of the convent, returning to the world so soon as that term of religious abstinence shall have expired. These Phoongrees are generally young men, who are desirous of assuming the monastic garb, either from a religious feeling, or for the purpose of performing

some expiatory service, and are enabled to do so through the assistance of some persons who deem it an act of piety to defray the expences consequent to their ordination.

In towns and large villages the education of the children* (the male part of them), is chiefly entrusted to the Phoongrees, and it is a part of their daily and uninterrupted occupation. No distinction is made between the children of the rich and the poor: both are treated alike and receive a similar education; no remuneration whatever being made to these good monks for their trouble, save the daily provision that is voluntarily supplied by the native community for their subsistence. Children under nine pears of age are not admissible into the Kioum, being of too tender an age to undergo the discipline and duties imposed upon them out of school hours, such as fetching wood and water, cleaning the rice, and attending the priests in their daily rounds, for it is the duty of the boys to carry the baskets containing the contributions of food. Such children as are parentless, or of poor parents, and even those who reside at some distance from the Kioum, are fed as well as lodged by the priests. The other boys are allowed a certain time to go home to their meals, but they are obliged to sleep in the convent, for what they have read during the day is repeated in the evening or at day-break on the following morning.

There is another source of education equally peculiar to the Mughs; such as are not engaged in any pursuit or employment requiring all their time, devote a portion of it to the education of children, entirely gratis; less labour being expected from the children than is imposed upon them in the Kioums. Children under nine years of age

and of both sexes are admissable to such schools, the rules, as before observed, being less strict than those enforced at the monasteries; it is therefore not uncommon to meet with children of a very tender age at such schools.

I know nothing so gratifying to a stranger as a visit to the larger Kioums in the evening of a fine day. To observe boys of all ages. rushing from the scene of their daily labours to the tank or other place of enjoyment, with that cheerful demeanour which marks the school-boy in our own country when released from his task and joining his fellows on the play-ground. At this time a group of monks may be seen standing on the elevated Michaun at the threshold of the Kioum, enjoying the evening air, or quietly watching the conduct of

* I am indebted to my friend Captain WILLIAMS for much information on this subject, as well as on other matters connected with this singular people. The great popularity he enjoys with the Mughs, has given him favourable opportunities for prosecuting his inquiries into their customs, &c.

the little urchins just escaped from their controul. To the eye of the most careful observer, their countenances bespeak a tranquillity of mind unknown to such whose passions are yet unsubdued. There is in the appearance of these priests an equal absence of puritanical zeal or overweening confidence; their features are as placid as the sky above them, and even with those whose religious duties are of the graver cast, a smile of benevolence may be seen to break through the shades of sorrow and self-degradation. Often have I, in passing, addressed On these monks, and have invariably received a courteous reply. some occasions I have found a welcome in the Kioum when shelter was denied me elsewhere; and with that welcome the more substantial evidences of good will in the shape of a repast prepared for myself and followers. I never left the Kioum in prosecution of my journey without feeling grateful to those good monks, who had so charitably received the white stranger into their mansion.

The Bhi Kuni (nuns), are equally common with the priests. They either reside in a convent of nuns, or live separately in some house constructed near a Koo (temple), superintending the offerings, and leading a life of religious abstinence. The greater part of the Bhi Kuni, have retained their virginity from early youth; others again have retired from the scene of earthly cares at a more advanced age; in some instances, after marriage, but only when that marriage has not The dress of the Bhi kuni is similar been productive of children.

to that of the Phoongrees, and their discipline in every other respect alike. Both are equally revered by the laity, and supplied with the little food necessary for their subsistence.

Respected by the people when living, it is not surprising that the Nigh-ban of a Phoongree should be marked by circumstances expressive of the sanctity of his character, and the attachment of his flock. The nature of the preparations made to do honour to his remains will depend much upon the means of the population residing in the neighbourhood of the Kioum. If these should be ample, the funeral obsequies will be performed on a scale of magnificence seldom surpassed in their most expensive shews; but if otherwise, the ceremonies will of necessity be got over in a hurried and economical style. The following will however be found to be the general practice with regard to the obsequies of a deceased Phoongree, and such mode of performing them was adopted in the present instance.

When emancipated from the world, the body is opened and embalmed; after which it lies for many weeks exposed to public view. The body is then confined in a coffin richly embellished with gold and * Nirván, death; properly emancipation.

silver leaf, and this is placed upon a lofty car that had been constructed for the purpose. The inhabitants of the neighbouring villages flock to the spot, and ropes having been fixed to the fore and hinder parts of the car, a contention arises among the villagers for the remains of the Phoongree. One party pulls against the other, and those that are successful claim the honor of finishing the ceremonies. This is done by a grand display of fireworks, the greater part of which are skilfully directed at the car, which is at length set on fire and the body is consumed*. Should the deceased Phoongree have maintained a character for peculiar sanctity, a part of his remains is not unfrequently preserved from the flames and retained as valuable relics. The influence of superstition has attached much value to such remains, and in addition to the worth they may be supposed to possess from the religious character of the departed priest, they are held by the more ignorant to be a common ingredient in those charms that are in use with the wizard. The Mughs hold the practice of burning the dead to be more honourable than that of committing the body to the earth or the sea, probably from its being attended with greater expense and publicity. Funerals are, however, conducted in either way, according to the means of the relations, or other circumstances favouring the adoption of one particular practice. The spot on which a funeral pile had been raised is not unfrequently marked by a cenotaph, a garden, a clump of trees, or such other monument of affection as the condition of the parties will enable them to place over the ashes of a departed relative. In some cases, the funeral rites are followed with donations of food and clothing to the priests, and a further evidence of piety is evinced in the adoption of some young man who shall express his readi ness to embrace the profession of a Phoongree.

January 14.-I had slept at the thannah on the night of the 13th, and was up at an early hour on the following morning with the intention of moving on to Oogah. The distance from Khyouk Phyoo to Kyouprath is at least sixteen miles; from that to Ladong is said to be as much as twenty; so that I had travelled 36 miles in the two days. Oogah was distant 12 miles from Ladong, and as the route lay over a level country I was not detained very long upon the road. The villages in Ladong are remarkably large, and have a cheerful, comfortable appearance. The whole face of the district, with the exception of the narrow belts of Girjun trees and underwood before mentioned, is under cultivation; and but for the costume and features of the inhabitants as well as the peculiar construction of the houses, I could have fancied * See a full account of the same ceremony by the late Rev. Dr. CAREY, As. Res. xii. 389.-ED.

F

myself in Bengal. The general appearance of the Mugh, induces the supposition that his condition is not only infinitely superior to that of the poorer classes in many parts of India, but that he is comparatively happy and contented with his lot. His clothing, though coarse and of native manufacture, is ample for the climate, and his vigorous frame of body bespeaks a sufficiency of nourishment. As his wants are few and easily supplied, there is no call for that unremitting labour which secures to the poor of other countries their scanty sustenance. The earnings of one day of toil generally provide for the exigencies of two successive days of ease; and to such as are, from a more indolent habit, less willing to cultivate the soil or perform the duties of an hireling, the forest and the sea present an inexhaustible supply of food. It is to this abundance of the necessaries of life in some one shape or another that we may ascribe the existence of that apathetic indifference to the future, characteristic of the Mugh population, and until some artificial wants are produced by a taste for luxuries hitherto unknown, we shall look in vain for that display of activity and toil peculiar to a more civilized, but less happy and probably less virtuous, race of people. It is not however too much to affirm, that such a change is already perceptible among those who are most in contact with Europeans and the natives of India.

In the towns of Khyouk Phyoo and Rambree, we may observe this indication of the growing taste for articles of foreign manufacture, in the small investments of cutlery, glass-ware, muslins, and broad-cloth exposed for sale in the shops along with the produce of the country. The people have already become smarter in their dresses, and were a little more attention paid to their pattern of piece goods, I have no doubt but the sale of these would be far greater than it is at present. Long habituated to a state of being little remote from that enjoyed by the brutes of the forest, the present generation are prepared to value those little luxuries denied to them during the reign of Burmah despotism, and will not be slow in securing the possession of them if placed within their reach. It is amusing, though melancholy, to hear these poor people relate the state of things in former days, in as far as regards the importation of foreign produce, and the prohibitions that debarred them the privilege of wearing the muslin turban or angah, even were they sufficiently wealthy to purchase the materials for one. As any exportation of the staple produce of the soil was seldom or ever permitted, few returns were made in the shape of Europe or Indian goods. They did, on some occasions, find their way into the country by the Godoohs that returned from Calcutta and Chittagong, laden with such articles of Europe or Indian manufacture, as the owners were enabled to obtain in exchange for the gold leaf, deer horns, bees' wax,