carried in the Womb who provided such convenient Food and innocent Diversions such pleasing Entertainments of their Senses and Fancy for the Teeming Women at that time that the Minds of the Children might participate thereby of those Delights might be chearful and serene and free from all dismal Impressions from their Parent and so their Lives afterwards might be composed and exempt from all anxious Thoughts from all turbulent Desires and vexatious Agonies of Spirit And from hence I will proceed to one of the last things I shall take notice of concerning the Bannians and that is their Burials As every Man 's coming into the World necessarily infers his going out of it and consequently a Separation of Body and Soul all the World therefore seems much concern'd what will become after Death of that other part of themselves in the Sepulture of their Bodies Five ways of disposing of the Dead And as there have been five ways of disposing of the Dead one to put them into the Ground another to cast them into the Water the third to leave them in the open Air the fourth to burn them the fifth to suffer them to be devoured by Beasts So of these Five two have principally obtain'd in the World that of committing their Bodies to the Earth and the other The Bannians burn the dead Bodies near the Water-side to the Flames The last of these is made choice of by the Bannians who carry their dead Bodies to a Pile of Wood near the Water-side not far from Suratt which is presently kindled after the Corps is laid upon it and when the Flame has reduced it to Ashes the Remains are thrown into the River They likewise if they are able Fragrant Wood burntt with the Corps burn some fragrant Wood of great Value with the Corps to sweeten the Air and mix its Perfumes with the black Exhalations Burning more honourable than burying And were it not for the Tyranny of Custom it seems more Honourable to have our Bodies consum'd by that lively Element than to have them devour'd by Worms and Putrefaction whereof Fire being an Enemy and the Emblem and most sensible Hieroglyphick of Immortality there can be no better Expedient to secure our Friends from Oblivion than that of burning their Bodies whereof we have either the Bones or Ashes Left which may be preserved whole Ages The several Nations of the World had Customs of their own Custom a second Nature which commencing upon uncertain Principles have been deriv'd to their Posterity and receiv'd with a Religious Fancy and they would rather die than do an Act of Violence to them and believ'd it the greatest Impiety in the World to break them Whereof Herodotus gives a full Instance in a Trial made by Darius to the Indians and Greeks He askt the Greeks what they would take to do as the Indians did who eat their dead Parents and Friends and accounted it the most honourable Burial They answered They would not do it at any Price And when he askt the Indians upon what Account they would be induced to burn the Bodies of their Fathers and not to eat them They desired him not to speak to them of any such horrid Impiety as to burn their Fathers Carkasses and to deny them the Honour of a Natural Burial in the Bowels of their dear Children This shews how Custom is the Spirit and Genius of a Man's Actions and introduces a Nature and Religion it self and were the Prejudice of that remov'd other civiliz'd Nations might doubtless be as zealous for burning their dead Friends as the Bannians are now-a-days Four ways of disposing of their Dead among the Siamese The Four Elements were formerly worshipped by the ancient Siamese who committed their Bodies when dead to what they ador'd when they were alive He therefore that worshipped the Earth made choice of that for his Interrment the Fire consum'd the Corps of its Adorers the Worshippers of the Air were expos'd to the Birds to devour them and those that reverenced the Element of Water were drowned in it at their Burial This Care of Mens Bodies after Death seems natural to Mankind All Nations take care of their Dead and almost universal which Osiris King of Egypt taking notice of made use of as an Encouragement to Vertue and an Argument for the practice of Morality among his People Those whose Vertues were Illustrious and whose Characters were unblemisht were appointed by him to be buried in Beautiful Fields near Memphis verdant with all manner of Flowers whilst the others were assign'd to places of Punishment and Ignominy whose lives had been Dissolute and Vicious The Gentiles of India The Corps Burnt sometimes before 't is quite dead as it they were weary of their Friends when alive and loath to harbour them when dead burn the Body sometimes before it is quite dead and when they think it past recovery A Bannian who was Broker to the English was thus hurried away to the burning Place as he was just expiring but being happily met by the English Surgeon who felt his Pulse and gave some hopes of Recovery some kinder Friend among the rest disswaded the Company from proceeding and in a little time by the application of a few Cordials he was recover'd to his Health and by that Miraculous chance evaded an untimely end The Corps is carried upon a Bier The manner of carrying the Dead to be Burnt according to the Custom of the Moors attended by Friends and Relations who as they pass along the Road are incessantly repeating Ram Ram that is in their Language God! God! For Ram they say was formerly the name of a mighty Prince among them and is now invoked by them as if he were God or the name translated to the Almighty Shaving the Hair a token of deep mourning If a Rajah dies his Subjects and Dependants cut off all their Beards and shave their Heads as tokens of the deepest Mourning for his Decease which is such a solemn sign of Grief and extraordinary Sorrow that this nakedness and want of Nature's Covering and Ornament of the Head and Face is never shown but for a Prince a Parent or some nearest Relation Funeral expences costly Upon the Death of any Friend the Bannians are not sparing of their Cost but spend profusely in Banqueting and Feasts which are kept publickly for the two or three days following then they observe upon the same account the Twelfth the Twentieth the Thirtieth and the Fortieth besides once each Quarter of the succeeding Year ' til the Annual Solemnity returns And he who at these times is parsimonious and endeavours to contract his Expences is accounted if he be a Man of Wealth the most sordid Miser in the World The Impious Opinion which the Indians formerly entertain'd The Reason which the Indians had for burning themselves of having a power over their own Lives as they were Masters of themselves caus'd many of
them to venture upon Death at pleasure and as advantagious to the Soul by securing it some degrees of Felicity and Virtue Sometimes the Husband would burn with his dead Wife And for this reason the loving Husband inamour'd with his kind or beautiful Wife would sometimes burn himself with her in the Funeral Pile in expectation of a happy future Enjoyment of her But this was seldom For it generally fell to the Wives lot to be committed to the Flames with the dead Husband The Reason why the Wives were burnt with their Husbands And this Heathenish Custom was introduc'd because of the libidinous disposition of the Women who thro' their inordinate Lust would often poison their present Husbands to make way for a new Lover This was so far incouraged by the Politick Bramin who was always a Gainer by her Death that if any Woman refus'd to burn This custom incouraged by the Bramins her Head was order'd presently to be shav'd that she might appear Contemptible and Infamous for ever after For all the Jewels she put on who deckt her Body for the Flames when she was resolv'd to die were carefully lookt after by the Priest and made his Propriety after her Death because he only had power to touch the Ashes and rake therein for Gold and Silver This Custom restrain'd by the Mogul Since the Mahometans became Masters of the Indies this execrable Custom is much abated and almost laid aside by the Orders which the Nabobs receive for suppressing and extinguishing it in all their Provinces And now it is very rare except it be some Rajahs Wives that the Indian Women burn at all and those that do obtain the liberty by costly Presents and powerful Applications to the Governours by which the Women who are forc'd to survive their Husbands by a superiour Authority evade that Ignominy and Contempt which would otherwise be cast upon them This foolish desire of Dying with their Husbands is exprest by the Poet in these Verses Propertieu L. 3. Eleg. 11. Vbi mortifero jacta est fax ultima lecto Vxorum fusis stat pia Turba comis Et certamen habent lethi quae viva sequatur Conjugium pudor est non licuisse mori Ardent victrices flammae pectora praebent Imponuntque suis or a perusta viris 'T is from this barbarous perswasion of a Power they have of disposing of their own lives and those that belong to them that the Tunquinese poyson each Year one of the Fruits of the Araguer and gives it to a Child to eat imagining that by the death of that innocent Child they shall thrive the better the succeeding Year The unreasonableness of this Custom And indeed it is an unaccountable Folly in the Indians to be so profligate of their own lives and yet so sparing of the Life of any the most insignificant living Creature as if the life of a Man were of less consequence and consideration than that of a Beast The usefulness indeed of some Brutes may gain them an esteem and the kindness and fidelity of others as of the Dog Hircanus belonging to Lysimachus who leapt as we read into the Fire with the Body of his dead Master and was burnt for Company and Tyranny even to any Creature argues a savage inhumane Nature but then it argues the pitch of stupidity and madness for a Man to destroy and cast away himself in a vain fit of Fancy or of Humour who is by the dignity of his Nature advanc'd so far above the rest of the Animal World Some Gentiles in India are Inâ—â—mb'd Tho' all the Gentiles do for the most part consume the Corps of their Dead by Fire yet some small Tombs are seen here and there where their Bodies have been immur'd but all of them very small and mean in respect of the rich and stately Monuments erected by the Principal Europeans near Suratt For the Bannians are not of the Opinion of the Egyptian Kings who fancyed that the Souls after Death were delighted to hover about their Bodies and to keep as intimate a Correspondence with them as they could the Bannians I say never dreamt this and were not therefore sollicitous for any stately Receptacle for their Bodies after Death as those Monarchs were who erected those stately Pyramids as Palaces of their last Repose which neither the fury of the Elements nor the Assaults of Time were able to Demolish and where their Souls might live with their Bodies solitary and undisturb'd by the approach of any rude Guest or vulgar Spirit Six Years are now elapsed since a violent Pestilence first broke out among the Indians at Suratt A tedious Pestilence at Suratt and has raged without interruption from the time of its first rise tho not always with equal fury for as it had some sort of Interval in the times of the Mussouns which cool'd the Air so its greatest Paroxysms were always immediately before and after that Season of the Year Before the Rains fall the Air is extreme dry and parching and when they are fallen such store of hot unwholsome vapours are rais'd and scatter'd in the Air that they give Birth to more Diseases than all the Year besides produces Above an Hundred Gentiles in one of these Seasons were carried out of the Gates of this City one Morning to be Burnt besides the Moors which were carried off by the Plague and those of both Casts which died in the Suburbs which by a very modest Calculation will amount to the number of 300 a Day And yet the Inhabitants are very numerous still the Streets populous and there is but little appearance of any such violent Destruction of the Natives Before the Eruption of this Pestilence An Earthquake there happen'd a small Earthquake which alarm'd the People but without the Ruin of Houses or mortal effect to any Inhabitant But that which creates the greatest Admiration in the Moors and not a little Joy in the English is our escaping all this while the direful Influence of this mortal Disease so that not one English man was ever yet affected by it This makes the Heathens cry out that God is among us whilst they observe whole Families of their own swept away without the least Infection touching any one of our Nation they observe those menial Servants that attend us both constantly in our Chambers and in all publick places falling Dead within a few Hours after they have left our presence and both the Wives and Children of these persons that wait upon us languishing at home of this Pestilential Sickness whilst we all escape its horrid Mortal Blasts And tho' I cannot in this case but ascribe something to second Causes to the generous Wines and costly Dishes to the strength of that Aliment whereon we feed yet when I consider how languid and feeble several of the English are at sometimes of the Year and notwithstanding their Food much less vigorous and Athletick in their Bodies
not to bear false Witness c. a strict performance whereof they think sufficient to Salvation however extravagant they may be in matters of Opinion and Speculation Nor do these latitudinarian Principles fail of a very good effect making them very Charitable and Hospitable to Strangers nor in the least displeas'd when any of their People embrace Christianity and are baptis'd When they die they are most sumptuously interr'd at the Expence of the People being burnt in a very costly Pile of the most precious Woods that can be got Their Ashes they cast into the River but the remainder of their Bones they bury near the Hut where they liv'd In matters of Faith besides that Manichean Principle before mention'd they hold divers others hardly consistent with it as an eternal Succession of Worlds without Creation and a multiplicity of Gods to govern them as for Example they say this present World is to be under the Government of Five several Gods of which four are already pass'd and now above two thousand two hundred Years elapsed since the Death of the last of these so that they expect suddenly the coming of the Fifth after whose Decease the World it self is to be destroy'd by Fire that a new one Phaenix-like may spring out of the Ashes The Souls of Men they say after several Transmigrations attain the Perfections and Felicity of their Gods which is no other than a state of Annihilation For first they pass thro' the Bodies of living Creatures Beasts and Birds c. and they are receiv'd into a place they call Naxac i. e. the place of Torments Whence they being after a long Confinement set free they are admitted into Sevum a second receptacle for departed Souls a place of all sorts of sensual Pleasures and a true Mahometan Paradise Having accomplish'd their time in this likewise they arrive at their last and irreversible state which they call Nibam which imports as much among them as a total Privation of the Essence both of Soul and Body or a state of Annihilation But this is to be said for them that they are not so wedded to any of these Opinions as not to be willing enough to hearken to and embrace other Doctrines when they are made known to them They have a strong Opinion of the Sanctity of Apes and Crocodiles insomuch that they think them infallibly happy who chance to be devoured by them Festivals Every Year they keep five solemn Festivals which in their Language are by a general name called Sapans and distinguish'd by the Names Giachie Catena Giaimo Segienod Daiche and Donon the first of these is solemniz'd about thirty six Miles from the City of Pegu the King Queen and whole Court being oblig'd to be present with great Pomp and Splendour The second is observ'd in the City of Pegu where the chief Men erect Pillars and Pyramids of different Fashions round which in the Night they hang lighted Torches and Wax Candles and the like to enlighten those that come to Worship the great Idol The Third is kept in Honour of a particular Idol before which the King Queen and their Children present themselves in Triumphal Chariots The Fourth is the Feast of Water the King Nobles and all the People sporting themselves by throwing Water one upon another and 't is impossible to pass the Streets without being soundly wet Lastly the Fifth is celebrated only at Macao but the King and whole Court are always there and their greatest Recreation and Entertainment is to see the Courtisans in their Barks upon the Water the Prize of the first being a Statue of Gold to the second one of Silver and all the rest are expos'd to the Derision of the Spectators The King of Pegu has been reckon'd by some Authors next to the Great Mogul Tosi Vol. 2. Pag. 63. and the Emperour of China one of the greatest Princes of the East Especially during the Reign of Brama who was able to bring an Army into the Field consisting of above a Million and half of Men and not arm above one in ten of his Subjects And his Son lay Siege to Joudia the Capital City of Siam with an Army of Nine Hundred Thousand Men and had certainly taken it had not the besieg'd found means to drown the Country round about which Inundation swept away all that vast Army except Seventy Thousand Men many that escap'd drowning being afterwards destroy'd by the Siameses sallying out upon them shut in by the Water in Barges but the rest after much hardship without either Horses or Baggage got back to Martaban This Misfortune was follow'd by several others for being incens'd by his Losses he grew Cruel and Tyrannical against his own Subjects provoking them thereby to Rebel against or at least Revolt from him Fort St. George January 1st Anno 1679 80. A Collection of Coyns now Currant in the Kingdoms of Indostan Persia Gulcondah Vizapore Japan Syam Pegu Atchein Quedda Arabia c. With their several Weights Fineness and Values here at this present c. N o Ps.  oz. dw gr  Matts Pa fa ca Pa fa ca Pa fa ca       Indostan            1 1 The Gold Mohurpo  7 2 fine 9 7 8    3 22 3    2 1 The Silver Rupee  6 19  9 ½     10 3     1 The Copper Pice             3 33    The Cowree Shell                      Persia            3 1 The Silver Abass 5 sh  5 20  9      8     4 1 Ditto of 4 Shahees  4 16  8 ½     6 3    5 2 The Silver Mamoode  2 8  7 ¾  2 4  4 8          Golcondah          19 5 6 1 The Silver Rupee  7 2  9 ½     11     7  Ditto Half  3 13        5 3    8 4 Quarter  1 18½     2 5  11     9 4 Eighths   21¼     1 2½  5 3    10 8 Sixteenths   10 5 8      4¼  5 3                   1 2 3   The Pagoda of             Â
retires into his Apartment till Hunger calls him forth to a fresh Meal and is now both by the Scrivan and his Family as carefully attended as if his Father were alive This fond indulgent Indian is as profuse in his Favours to some Rats The same Bannian's kindness to Rats which lodge in his House and are grown as familiar as Cats for to these he allows some daily Food because he is certain they harbour the Souls of some departed Relations An Opinion concerning the Transmigration Some Men think that this Opinion of the Metempsycosis takes its Original from the Transformation of Nebuchadnezzar into a Beast which is mentioned in the Book of Daniel and that when his Soul passed into that of a Brute when he was under a corporal Transformation the Souls of other Men might undergo the same Fate after Death as a Punishment for their Crimes as his was For the ancient Gauls maintain'd the Immortality of the Soul and its shifting continually from one Body to another and that according to its Deportment here such and such Bodies were appointed it by God more or less painful and suitable to its Condition Claud. in Ruff. Lib. 2. Muta ferarum Cogit vincla pati truculentos in gerit Vrsis Pradonesque Lupis fallaces vulpibus addit Atque ubi per varios Annos per mille figuras Egit Lethaeo purgatos flumine tandem Rursus ad humanae revocat primordia formae He made them wear the silent Yoak of Brutes some that were Cruel he lodged in the Bodies of Bears and Wolves those that were Crafty in Foxes and others in other Animals 'till after the succession of a thousand Years and Shapes at length they are re-plac'd into Human Shapes when they had been well purg'd in Lethe's Flood But to strengthen this Consideration the more concerning Nebuchadnezzar they observe that this wonderful Transformation of that great Monarch happen'd at or about the very same time that Pythagoras was at Babylon whither he travell'd to gain the Eastern Learning but this may be a small mistake in time Hence he brought the Report fresh with him and being of a fanciful Genius thought the best way to solve that strange occurrence was to assert a Metempsychosis But tho' there is no mention of the Soul's Transmigration more ancient among the Greeks than Pythagoras yet among the Chineses â—e ancint Opinion of the Chinese of the Transmigration whose Antiquities are said to be stretcht backwards above four thousand Years there is this Opinion yet current among their Learned Men as well as among the Indians and is agreed to be of ancient Date That the Souls after Death are Subject to a Transmigration And it is not improbable that much of the Phaenician as well as Grecian and Egyptian Institutions were deriv'd from the ancient and remote Fountains of Learning the Indies and China Especially if we consider not only the Opinion of the Soul's Transmigration but of the Eternity of Matter the four Cardinal Virtues the Indolence of Body and Tranquility of Mind Abstinence from living Creatures and several others which seem to be intirely Oriental and brought from thence by Pythagoras Democritus Lycurgus and others who travell'd into those distant parts The Days set apart for the publick Devotion of the Bannians The Bannians Days of Devotion are only two in a Month about our ninth and twenty fourth in which by a very strict Discipline they abstain from all things eatable 'till the Evening most Religiously And inculcate this severity upon their younger Children in their Infant Growth to induce the observance of it with facility upon them Their Abstinence and to render the Abstinence tolerable and less troublesome in their riper Age. The Pagans who are bred to labour and Manual Occupations consecrate each Day in the Week Holy Ballads Sung all the day long and every thing they take in Hand thus far that they fill their Mouths with a pious Song at the first dawning of the Morning as soon as ever they ingage in their several Employments and Manual Occupations and never cease their Secular Vocation without concluding with the mixture of a Holy Rhime When a Company of Labourers are employ'd together about the same Work this sacred Ballad is repeated by them sometimes alternately sometimes by single persons the rest answering in a Chorus all the Day long without the intermission of one quarter of an Hour The Lascars or Sea-Men upon the Water all the while they handle the Oar divert themselves by turns with this tuneful Melody This piece of Religion they are so solemnly and constantly inur'd to that if they design'd the undertaking any work in secresie and un-observ'd the custom they have acquir'd in singing would be apt by some sudden Eruption to betray their Privacy and discover the silence and obscurity they desir'd A Conjecture at the reason of this Singing I fancy the warmth of the Air which is apt to stupifie the Spirits and render them unweildy and dull was as likely a Reason for introducing this melodious Diversion which is apt to keep them active and awake at their Work as it was to exercise the Devotion of their Thoughts It s rise used in China The Introduction of this Custom was probably design'd by him who writ the second Volume of the five principal ones that are extant in China which is a Collection of Odes and several other little things of that nature For Musick being greatly esteem'd and much used in China and whatever is publish'd in this Volume having respect only to the Purity of Manners and practice of Virtue those that wrote it compos'd it in Verse to the end that every one being inabled to sing the things therein contain'd they might be in every ones Mouth And from thence it might spread it self for this very reason as far as India Aureng-Zebe Aureng-Zebe's restraining Pagan-worship upon an implacable detestation to the Idolatry of the Bannians and other Gentiles has forbid in a great measure their Pagodes and commanded both a defacing of them and suppressing the Solemnities of their publick Meetings which thereupon is not so common as formerly and that which is conniv'd at is generally in some distant Priviledg'd Parts They repeat their Devotions The Indians very publick in their Devotions especially the Moors in the Corners of the Streets and upon the House tops in the High Ways and where there is commonly a publick Concourse of People as if they were ambitious of opportunities of demonstrating their Zeal to the God they worship whom they always approach with Postures most submissive and suitable to the respect of that awful Majesty they implore After they have bended the Knee They show great Reverence at Prayer they in the most profound Prostration kiss the Ground frequently with their Fore-heads express their servency in Devotion with the most ardent pathetick Aspirations in the Mornings especially and with the setting Sun Their
a piece of Cloath fasten'd to a Beam for that purpose and continue dancing 'till he has quite exhausted his Spirits and he drops down as a Dead Man in the place Then is the Musick redoubl'd and all the Spectators second it with their Rejoicings and are ready to Envy him the happiness he then Enjoys supposing him all the while he lies in this Condition to Converse with the Idol This Exercise he is bound to repeat as long as the Feasting continues but if his weakness will not permit then must some near Relation succeed in his place and if at last the Person recovers after the Talagno is compleated he is carried to the Pagods and anointed with Oils and Odoriferous and costly Perfumes from the Head to the Foot But if notwithstanding all these Sacrifices and Vows the Sick Person die at last the Raulini have another fetch they tell them all these Sacrifices were well accepted by the Gods and the Reason why they granted not the Sick a longer life was because they design'd him a greater Favour by taking him to themselves and recompencing him in another World Not less Superstitious and absurd are they in their manner of Interment Funerals For the Dead Corps being brought into the middle of the House the Raulini walking round about it cant over certain Prayers whilst others perfume the place with Incense the greatest part of the Family in the mean time keeping strict Watch and beating upon a broad piece of Brass This they tell you they do lest to the great Disgrace and Damage to the Party deceas'd a Black Cat should pass over him for then he would be constrain'd to return to life again with Ignominy and be depriv'd of that happiness they suppose him to Enjoy in another World Before the Deceas'd be carried out of the House they invite to a Banquet a sort of People called Graii of which if they are not at leisure to accept it causes a most doleful Lamentation among the Relations of the deceas'd taking that for a certain Sign that his Soul is Condemn'd to Hell which they call the House of Smoak The Coffin is adorn'd according to the Abilities of the Person and being firmly perswaded of the Transmigration of Souls into other Bodies they never fail to paint upon it the Figures of Horses Elephants Eagles Cows Lions and the most noble Creatures they can imagin as it were to direct the departed Soul to the best Lodging Unless out of pure Humility the deceas'd order before-hand Rats and Frogs and the vilest and most despicable Animals to be drawn in their stead as the most suitable Receptions for his polluted Soul In this manner the Body is carried out into the Fields and there burnt to Ashes the Raulini kindling the Fire and the Relations attending clad all in White which is their Mourning Attire except a black Hatband round their Heads Religion Their Religion in general is nothing else but an absur'd Heathenish Superstition and they are disturb'd at the most common things looking upon the Barking of a Dog or the like as the Omen and Presage of some notable Event Upon which the Raulini are immediately consulted who know how to Entertain them with a Thousand Fopperies They have their Domestick Idol besides those in their publick Temples which are so numerous that in one alone are said to be no less than Twenty Thousand To this Domestick God they constantly before they Eat offer a part of their Provision and wear his Mark burnt into their Arms or Sides or Shoulders with a hot Iron and by him Swear Those that are of ability send Portions likewise to the publick Temples which are built in the form of a Pyramid or Steeple higher or lower according to the Pleasure of the Founder In the Winter time they Cloath their Idols that they may not take cold in hopes of a mighty Recompence for such an act of Charity to them At a certain time of the Year they celebrate a Festival which they call Sansaporan in commemoration of the Dead wherein they make a solemn Procession in Honour of one of their Idols called Quiay Poragray which is carried in an heavy Chariot with Ninety of the Raulini clad in yellow Sattin attended thro' all the Streets of the City many as he passes throwing themselves under his Chariot Wheels and others hanging themselves upon Iron Hooks fasten'd for the purpose and Sprinkling him with their Blood And in such high Veneration are held these Martyrs of the Devil that every Man thinks himself happy on whom one drop of their Blood shall chance to light Nay the very Hooks on which they hang are with great Reverence taken down by the Raulini and as sacred Relicks carefully preserv'd in their Pagods Priests Their Raulini or Priests are divided into three Orders distinguish'd by the names of Pungrini Pangiani and Xoxom somthing resembling the Distinction of Bishops Priests and Deacons They are cloath'd in Yellow having their Heads Shaven and all below the Pungrini uncover'd but these wear a Yellow Mitre with the point turn'd and falling backwards They are tied to live single both by Vow and under Penalty of Degradation and being reduc'd into the number of Laicks and taxed as they They live partly in Cloisters founded by their Kings or great Men which are generally very sumptuous and partly in their own Houses and of their own Estates but all under one Head their Xoxom Pungri before mention'd To these are recommended the Children as well of the Nobility as of the inferior sort to be Educated in the Knowledge of their Religion and Laws and they are said to be exceeding Hospitable to Strangers They have amongst them many Hermites not unlike the Jogues before spoken of whom they divide into Grepi Manigrepi and Taligrepi who for some severe and rigorous Penances inflicted upon themselves are had in great Esteem among the People THE GOVERNMENT c. OF ARRACAN THIS King for the vastness of his Treasure and strength for War is as considerable as most of the Princes of the East and within less than an Hundred Years space has much inlarg'd his Dominions by his Conquests as well in Pegu Jarric l. 6. c. 29. as Bengala But in his Wars against the Portuguese he was never successful a Fleet of his of no less than five hundred and Forty Sail being defeated by them in the Year 1605. And not long after coming against the Fort of Siriam with a Fleet of Twelve Hundred Sail together with a Land Army of Thirty Thousand Men with three Thousand five Hundred great and small Canon he was thrice beat both by Land and Sea and forc'd to retire The Government is chiefly in the hands of Twelve Princes to whom he gives the Title of Kings residing in his Principal Cities in Twelve Magnificent Palaces built for the King himself in all which are great Seraglio's the Governour being oblig'd Yearly to chuse Twelve Girls born that year within their