Among the public amusements of the Birmans, are boxing matches, fireworks, processions, exhibi tions of dancing, puppet shows. They are partial: larly fond of dramatic entertainments. At Pegu there is a theatre, in an open court, which is splen didly illuminated by lamps and torches when theatri cal performances are exhibited. Indeed, at all festi vals they have dramatic entertainments, consisting of music, dancing, and action, with a dialogue in recita tion. The higher ranks are likewise particularly fond of chess. The hoard which they use in this game is exactly similar to ours, containing 64 squares, and the number of troops the same, sixteen on each side ; but the names, the power, and the disposal of them, differ essentially. On the last day of the year a curious custom prevails throughout the Birman empire. To wash away the impurities of the past, 'and, commence the new year free from stain, wo men on this day are accustomed to throw water on every man they meet, and the men have the privi lege of retaliating. This licence gives rise to a great deal of harmless merriment, particularly among the young women, who, armed ivith large syringes and flaggons, endeavour to wet every man that goes along the streets ; and, in their turn, receive the same com pliment with perfect good humour. Dirty water, however, is never employed ; nor is a man allowed to lay hold of a woman, but lie may cast as much water over her as lie pleases, provided she has been the aggressor ; but if a woman warns a man that she does not mean to join in the diversion, it is consider ed as an avowal of pregnancy, and she passes without molestation.
In the Birman empire, funerals are solemnized with great parade, and various external demonstrations of grief. The corpse is placed on a bier, and carried on men's shoulders ; the procession moves slowly along ; the relations attend in mourning ; and wo men, hired for the occasion, precede the body, and chaunt a dirge-like air. The Birmans burn their dead, unless the person is a pauper ; in which case, he is either buried, or cast into the river, as the cere mony of burnin+ is very expensive.• The bier is pla ced on a funeral pile six or eight feet high, made of billets of dried wood laid across each other, with in - teryals to admit a due circulation of air, and to in crease the flame. The priests walk round the pile, reciting prayers to Godama, until the fire reaches the body, when the whole is quickly reduced to ashes. The bones arc afterwards collected and depo sited in a grave. Persons of high rank, such as the chief ecclesiastic of a province, the prime minister, or a member of the royal family, are embalmed, and their remains are preserved for six weeks, or two months, after which they are committed to the fune ral pile. During this period the body lies in state in some monastery ; but at the capital it is placed in a sacred saloon, beautifully ornamented with gilding, and exclusively appropriated to this purpose. Honey is said to be the principal ingredient which they em ploy to preserve the body from putrefaction.
Besides the Birmans, Col. Symes mentions .a sin gular description of people called Carayners, who in habit different parts of the country, particularly the western provinces of Della and Bassieu, and of whom there are several societies in the districts adjacent to Rangoon. They were represented to him,by a Ca tholic missionary as a simple, innocent race, mild in their manners, exceedingly hospitable to strangers, speaking a language distinct from that of the Bir mans, and entertaining rude notions of religion. They are the most industrious subjects of the state, and raise a great part of the provisions used in the coun try. Agriculture, gardening, and the care of cattle, are almost their oily occupations. Their villages form a select community, from which they exclude all other people ; and they never reside in cities, in termingle, or marry with strangers. They profess and strictly observe the principle of universal peace, not engaging in war, or taking part in contests for dominion ; a system which necessarily places them in subjection to the ruling power of the day. Of late years, however, they have been much oppressed by the great Birman landholders ; in consequence of which, numbers of them have withdrawn into the mountains of Arracan.
In literature the Birmans have made considerable progress ; for though they have not explored the depths of science, or reached to superior excellence in the fine arts, yet, in general, they are certainly an intelligent people. The knowledge of letters is so widely diffused among them, that there arc no mechanics, few of the peasantry, or even of the com mon watermen, who cannot read and write the vul gar tongue. Few, however, are versant in their books of science, which, containing many Sanscrit terms, and being often written in the Pali text, are above the comprehension of the multitude. The Birman language contains thirty-three simple sounds, to represent which, the alphabet consists of an equal number of distinct characters, exclusive of various marks and contrac tions, which supply the place of long and short vowels, diphthongs, &c. The Birmans write like Europeans, from the left to the right ; and, though they leave no distinzuishina place between their words, they mark the pauses of a full sentence,..:od the full stops. Their letters are distinct, and their manuscripts are, in general, very beautiful. The common books of the Birmans, like those of the Hindoos, are composed of the palmyra leaf, on which the letters arc engraved with a style ; but they are much superior to those of the Western con tinent, in the neatness of the execution, and in the ornaments which decorate them. Books, in the Pali text, are sometimes composed of thin stripes of bam boo,' delicately plaited and varnished over in such 'a manner as to form a smooth and hard surface, on a leaf of any dimensions. This surface is afterwards gilded, and the sacred letters are traced upon it in black and shining japan : the margin is illuminated by wreaths and figures of gold, on a red, green, or black ground. In every monastery there is .a repo sitory of books, which are usually kept in lacqUered chests. When at the capital, Colonel Symes paid a visit to the royal library, of which he gives. us the following interesting description. " It is,'.' says he, : " a large brick building; raised on a terrace, and I covered by a roof of a very compound structure. It consists of one square room, with an enclosed viran do, or gallery, surrounding it. The room was lock ed, and, as we had not a special order for seeing it, the person who had the care of the library, said that he.was not at liberty to open the doors, but assured us there was nothing in the inside different front what we might see in the virando, where a number of large chests, curiously ornamented with and japan, were ranged in regular order against the wall. I counted fifty ; but there were many more, probably not less than a hundred. The books were regularly classed, and the contents of each chest were written in gold letters on the lid. The librarian opened two, and shers'ed me )some very beautiful writing, on thin leaves of ivory, the margins of which were ornamented with flowers of gold, neatly executed. I saw also some books written in the an cient Pali, the religious text. 'Every thing seemed to be arranged with perfect regularity ; and I was in formed that there were books on divers subjects ; more on divinity than any other : but history, music, medicine, painting, and romance, had their separate treatises. The volumes were disposed under distinct heads, regularly numbered ; and if all the other chests were as well filled as those that were submit ted to our inspection, it is not improbable, that his Birman majesty may possess a more numerous li brary than any potentate from the banks of the Da nube to the borders of China."
To this general account of the literature of the r Birmans, we may add a few particulars relative to 11 some of the arts and sciences. They are said to pos sess.many historical works, containing an account of the lives and actions of the different families of their princes ; but they are very fabulous, and abound with omens and prodigies. They have also transla tions of the history of China and Siam, and of the kingdoms of Kathee, Ko-shampyee, Pagoo, Saym may, and Layuzayu. In medicine, the Birmans have several books. They divide diseases into ninety , six genera ; and of these several are subdivided into many species. They are acquainted with the use of mercury in the cure of the venereal disease ; but the manner in which they employ it is neither safe nor certain. They make a candle of cinnabar and some, other materials, and, setting fire to it, the patient inhales the f'imes with his nostrils ; but he is seldom able to persevere long in this course, as it always produces a want of appetite, and extreme languor. Of the animal kingdom, mummy is a favourite me dicine ; but the greater part of the Birman remedies are taken from the vegetable creation, especially those of an aromatic nature. They are well ac quainted with the plants of the country ; and for a great number of them have appropriate names. On the whole, however, the practice of their physicians is almost entirely empirical ; and, accordingly, they are not held in high estimation among their country men. There is a curious custom, mentioned by Dr Buchanan, with regard to this class of men. If a woman appears to be dangerously ill, the physician and her parents frequently enter into an agreement, by which he undertakes to cure her. If the doctor is successful in this, he takes her as his property ; but if she dies, he pays a certain sum for her to the parents : for in the Birman empire no pa rent gives away his daughter, either as a wife or con cubine, without some valuable consideration. In sur gery,. the skill of the Birmans extends only to the dressing of wounds and setting of bones. Of late, indeed, they have introduced from Arracan the art of inoculation for the small-pox. The practice, how ever, does not appear to have become general, as a very great proportion of the people are marked by that disease. The Baptists, who have for some years laboured with so much success in propagating Christianity in Bengal, have lately sent a mission to the Birman empire ; and, in 180S, one of the mis sionaries, Mr Felix Carey, introduced the vaccine inoculation into the city of Rangoon. He perform ed the operation on a considerable number of people, and, among others, the family of the governor, so that we fondly hope, this inestimable discovery will soon extend through the empire, and prevent the future ravages of the natural pox. On law the Bir mans have many treatises, particularly the Institutes of Menu, and copious commentaries upon them. The code in common use is said to have suffered seve ral alterations and additions by the decrees of various princes. The king who sat on the throne when the Bri. tish embassy was sent to this country, was a very intel ligent prince, and had caused the Institutes of Menu to be translated from the English of SirW. Jones. He must therefore have heard of what is pursued among the Europeans, at least in oriental literature ; and we may hope that some more useful books may at tract his notice, and'promote the diffusion of know ledge among his people. The Birmans are extreme ly fond of poetry and music. They have epic as well as religious poems, of high celebrity ; and they are fond of reciting, in heroic numbers, the exploits of their kings and generals. It is said, that the prowess of the great Alompra, the deliverer of his country, is celebrated in verses not unworthy of his courage and his fortune. The members of the Bri tish embassy saw one of their dramatic representa tions at Pegu, and gave it considerable praise. The dialogue was spirited, without rant ; the action ani mated without being extravagant ; and the dresses of the principal performers were showy, yet becom ing. Music is a science which is also held in consi derable estimation throughout the Birman empire, and is cultivated more generally than in India. The manner in which the Birmans divide time, is at once a proof of the progress and the defect of t their knowledge. The space in which the finger can be raised and depressed, is called charazi ; ten of them make one piaan ; and six piaans one pizana, or about a minute. The day commences at noon, and is divided into eight portions, of about three hours each. Their divisions of time are ascertained by a machine resembling the hour-glass, and sometimes by a perforated pan placed in a tub of water. They are announced by a stroke on an oblong drum, which is always placed near the dwelling of the chief ma gistrate of the town or village. It is commonly raised on a high bamboo stage, with a roof of mats to protect it from the weather. The edifice at the royal palace in the capital is of masonry, and is very lofty ; so that the sound is said to be distinctly con veyed to the remotest parts of the city. The Bir man year is divided into twelve months, which con sist alternately of 29 and 30 days ; so that an ordi nary year consists only of 354 days. In order, therefore, to complete a solar revolution, they inter calate every third year a month of 30 days ; and in that year they add other three days to certain of the months : but, as every fourth year will still occasion the difference of a day, as in our bissextile year, their style has been frequently altered by arbitrary authority. His present Birman majesty, however, is so desirous to ascertain and establish, by accurate tables, a permanent and invariable measurement of time, that he made application to the governor-ge neral of India to send to his capital a Bramin skilled in astronomy, to assist the deliberations of his coun cil of professors, among whom his majesty always presides in person ; and he is said to be no inconsi derable proficient in the science of astronomy. The manner in which the Birman month is subdivided, is probably peculiar to this nation. Instead of reckon ing the days progressively, from the commencement to the close of the month, they advance no farther than the full moon ; from which they recede, by re trogressive enumeration, until the end of the month. The month is also subdivided into four weeks, of seven days each ; and the eighth day of the increas ing moon, the fifteenth or full moon ; the eighth of the decreasing moon, and the last day of the moon, are set apart by the Birmans as sacred festivals. On these hebdoininal holidays no public business is trans acted, and mercantile engagements are suspended ; and the strict observers of them take no sustenance between the rising and the setting of the sun : but the latter instance of self denial is not very common, and i3 rarely practised, except in the metropolis, when the appearance of sanctity is sometimes assumed by the crafty as the means of attaining promotion. The sovereign himself is a great favourer of the austeri ties of the Birman religion • and his chief minister has for many years, on the Birman Sabbath, abstain ed from food, so long as the sun appeared above the horizon.