Journal of an Embassy from the Governor General of India to the Court of Ava, Volumen1

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Colburn, 1834 - 482 páginas

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Página 285 - The scar of an old sore or wound will often be sufficient pretext to extort money from the individual marked with it, to enable him to escape from being driven from society. If a wealthy individual have a son or daughter suffering from leprosy, or a disease which may be mistaken for it, he will have to pay dearly to avoid being expelled, along with his whole family, from the city.
Página 287 - The pouring of water upon the ground is considered by the Burmans the most solemn vow. It is as if it were calling the earth to witness, or rather the guardian Nat, or tutelary spirit of the place, who, it is supposed, will hold the vow in remembrance, should men forget it. Two other priests followed the first, repeating the same, or similar prayers and ceremonies. After this, the company retired to some distance, and fire was set to the funeral pile. Notwithstanding the pomp and parade of this ceremony,...
Página 284 - The coffin, which was very splendid, was stripped of the large gold plates with which it was ornamented, and the class of persons whose business it is to burn the bodies of the dead, were seen busy in preparing the materials of the funeral pile. This is a class hereditarily degraded, living in villages apart from the rest of the inhabitants, and held to be so impure that the rest of the people never intermarry with them. By the common people they are called Thuba-raja, the etymology of which is uncertain;...
Página 318 - The few teeth he had were sound, but rather small ; and he had never lost any from disease. He stated, that he did not shed his infantine teeth till he was twenty years of age, when they were succeeded in the usual manner by the present set. He also expressly asserted, that he never had any molares ; and that he experienced no inconvenience from the want of them. The features of this individual were regular and good for a Burmese. The intellectual faculties were by no means deficient ; on the contrary,...
Página 283 - ... is afterwards turned loose into the forest. A band of music followed the elephant ; after which came a long line of priestesses, or nuns, all old and infirm ; then came ten or twelve young women, attendants of the deceased, dressed in white, and carrying her insignia. The state...
Página 318 - ... inches long: over the breast it was about four inches: it was most scanty on the fore.arms, the legs, thighs, and abdomen. We thought it not improbable that this singular integument might be periodically or occasionally shed; and inquired, but there was no ground for this surmise; — it was quite permanent. Although...
Página 300 - In the years 1186 and 87, the Kula-pyu, or white strangers of the west, fastened a quarrel upon the Lord of the Golden Palace. They landed at Rangoon, took that place and Prome, and were permitted to advance as far...
Página 318 - The whole forehead, the cheeks, the eyelids, the nose, including a portion of the inside, the chin — in short, the whole face, with the exception of the red portion of the lips, were covered with a fine hair. On the forehead and cheeks, this was about eight inches long; and on the nose and chin, about four inches. In colour, it was of a silvery gray; its texture was silky, lank, and straight.
Página 412 - English and Burmese vessels meeting with contrary winds, or sustaining damage in masts, rigging, &c., or suffering shipwreck on the shore, shall, according to the laws of charity, receive, assistance from the inhabitants of the towns and villages that may...
Página 225 - The whole fabric is erected npon a terrace of solid stone and lime, ten or twelve feet high, which constitutes the floor; this is so smooth, even, and highly polished, that I mistook it at first for white marble. With the exception of about fourteen or fifteen inches at the bottom of each pillar, painted of a bright red, the whole interior of the Palace is one blaze of gilding. The throne, which is at the back of the hall, is distinguished from the rest of the structure bv its superior brilliancy...

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