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who get them made,
for much labor and
ingenuity is spent
on the curious
designs of fine
variegated mats,
very neat and
beautiful things.
And they manage all
that without any
kind of nailing,
for, instead of
nails, they use
strong better
ligatures, or
Bengali canes, as we
call them in
Portugal; while they
are still tender and
thin, they work them
with some iron
instruments, called
Daos, and make them
as thin and slender
as they live. With
these ligaments of
reed they bind the
pieces of the
structure in such a
way that, if the
supports and pillars
are of wood, it
lasts twelve or
fifteen years. Some
princes and lords
have also in their
palaces some rooms
made of wood, the
different sculptures
and moldings of the
wood-work being gilt
and painted in
various colors.
The Royal palaces of
Mrauk U are also
constructed with the
same materials; and
they have massive
wooden columns of
such extraordinary
length and
straightness that
one wonders there
are trees so tall
and so straight. The
inside columns are
entirely gilt,
without any
admixture of other
materials. These
places contain also
some rooms made of
odoriferous woods,
such as white and
red sandal-wood,
wild or forest
eagle-wood, so that
in those apartments
the sense of smell
has its special
delight, in the
natural fragrance of
those scented woods.
- In the same Mrauk
U palace there is a
hall gilt from top
to bottom,
which they call the
"golden House",
because it has a
vine of the purest
gold which occupies
the whole roof of
the hall, with a
hundred combalengas
of the same pure
gold. These
combalengas are in
breadth and shaped
like big pumpkins of
the kind we call
Guinea pumpkins, and
they- say that each
one of them weights
ten bissas, or forty
pounds Spanish.
There are also in
that very rich house
seven idols of gold,
each of the size and
proportions of an
average man; they
are hollow within,
but two inches
thick. I could not
ascertain the weight
of each of these
idols, on account of
the various
estimates given by
those whom I
questioned. Those
idols are adorned on
the forehead,
breast, arms and
waist with many fine
precious stones,
rubies, emeralds and
sapphires, as also
with some brilliant
old Rock diamonds,
of more than
ordinary size. In
the same golden hall
stood eight pitchers
of gold each four
palms high,
seven-inch
circumference, and
one inch thick.
There were also nine
dishes of the same
metal, each three
palms high thirteen
inches in
circumference, and
one inch thick.
This grand and very
rich hall contain still those
equally ancient and
most celebrated
precious Chanequas
of the Tangu, the
prime cause, past,
and present, of so
many wars and so
much bloodshed on
the part of various
nations, such as the
Siames, the Pegus,
Tangus, Bramas, A
was, Sions and now
at present the Mogos
and Mogars. This
unique treasure is
contained in a
casket of gold, two
palms long and
proportionately
broad, the whole of
it is covered with
very artistic and
boughs, flowers and
birds, and within
this tracery are
encased very fine
diamonds, rubies and
pearls of
extraordinary
greatness. This
admirable casket
stands in the centre
of the hall on a
square table of
gold, three palms
long; this table too
is elaborately
engraved, and set
with many rich gems.
To stimulate the
more human cupidity,
it is covered with a
cloth of white
satin, entirely
embroidered with
gold and pearls of
ordinary size. I
freely confess that,
albeit I had seen in
other parts of the
East many things of
great price and
value, yet, when
they opened the
casket for me, and I
beheld the chanequas,
I stood amazed,
especially on seeing
that I could
scarcely fix my eyes
on them, due to the
splendor they cast.
These Chanequas are
two rubies shaped
like an obelisk and
pyramid, of the
length of the small
finger, and the
bottom of each has
the circumference of
a small hen's egg.
These most precious
jewels are used only
at the coronation of
the Mogo Kings, or
in their greatest
solemnities. The
word chancqua means
the same as a
pendant, or
ear-ring, an article
worn at the ears
both by the Mogos,
and the Pegus and
Bramas; for this
purpose, they pierce
their ears when
young, and put in
them something
heavy, which keeps
stretching and
enlarging them until
they reach almost
the shoulders.
In one of the inner
courts of the palace there is
also a statue of the
King Braka, Tyrant
of the Empire of
Pegu, who was slain
by a Pegu lord
called Xemi' Decatam,
whom he had ordered
to be killed. While
quartering at a
small country-house
some uses belonging
to a Verela, or
temple, with four
thousand Bramas,
this Brama King was
waiting for the rest
of his army, which
he had ordered to
collect, with the
intention of
marching against a
prince who had
revolted in Martaban
- or
Mottama, as it is
known today 2009,
south of Yangon.
Now, one night, Xemi
Decatam with six
hundred Pegus fell
unexpectedly on him
at the houses of the
Vaakto. Luck would
have it that they
found the Tyrant
busy in a closet,
for he was suffering
at the time from a
flux of the belly,
and they killed him.
The Burmans hold him
for a Saint, and as
such they dedicated
a temple to him,
because he had so
greatly aggrandized
and exalted their
nation, and, to
perpetuate his
memory forever, they
resolved to make an
image of him. So,
they made a bronze
figure and seated on
a table, also of
metal and around him
are sundry monsters
in bronze of
surprising size. The
most wonderful are
four giants of both
sex, each sixteen
palms high and
holding maces in
their hands: a
monstrous brood.
With them there is
another monster of
the same material,
half elephant, half
bull, eleven palms
high, another
horrid-looking
object. Still other
animals, also of
bronze from port of
that cortage; but as
they are one of
ordinary shape and
size. The statues of
the four Giants
were, they say,
adorned with many
precious stones, and
in the places where
they were encased
there are still the
traces of them. That
statue is venerated
by many of those
Gentiles, who come
to see it, and out
of devotion anoint
it with sandal and
fragrant oils. And
when people are
afflicted with
diarrhea, they came
to him as to their
advocate against
that infirmity,
bringing vases full
of water, they bathe
him, and the water
which flows out,
after passing
through his body, is
collected and given
to drink to those
who suffer from the
illness.
- At a small
distance from that
Mrauk U Royal
Palace,
there is a lake, the
water of which is
dammed off, and they
say it is more than
thirty leagues long.
The lake is divided
into several arms,
containing many
islets, quite cool,
and planted with
fruit-bearing trees.
The greater number
of these islets
(island) are
inhabited by Raulins.
Some of these live
in Varelas, some of
their Varlas being
built like our
Convents. Others
live in private
houses. I shall give
a special account of
them all, when I
describe the warship
of those nations. On
that big lake there
are many boats, but
they do not
communicate with the
interior of the
city, as the passage
is dammed up.
Their ancient
histories say that this lake
was opened and begun
when that Kingdom seperated and made
itself independent
from the Empire of
Pegu, the purpose of
it being this. In
case they should be
besieged, they would
retire to the
suburbs contiguous
to the Lake, and, as
a last resource, let
the waters escape,
and the violence of
the onrush would be
such that they would
inundate the city
and at the same time
destroy the enemy.
It is for this
reason that they
still keep these
waters.To go back to the
thread of our golden
Myanmar, I say that
this city in Arakan must have,
according to the
common estimate, one
hundred and sixty
thousand
inhabitants,
exclusive of the
foreign merchants,
who are very
numerous, as the
place is a very
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