'Travels from India to England : comprehending a visit to the Burman Empire, and a journey through Persia, Asia Minor, European Turkey, &c., in the years 1825-26, by James Edward Alexander' [‎22] (63/412)

22 BURMAN EMPIRE.
the figure of griffins, cows, &c. The inferior currency is lead,
with which fish, vegetables, tobacco, &c. are purchased.
Whenever a Burman accumulates a considerable sum, he lays it
out in building a brick and chunam pagoda, in which he places
several figures of Gaudma, coated with silver, or smaller figures
of gold, enclosed in a square box.
The priests are shaven on the head, and wear a long loose yellow
robe reaching to the knees: they never cook their own victuals, but
subsist upon alms. They issue every morning from their or
monasteries, and perambulate the streets with a black or blue wooden
box in their hands, which is filled by the charitable with rice and
vegetables. Their employment consists chiefly in attending upon
their god, keeping the idols clean, and reciting prayers and dis
courses on moral duties: they also teach the children to read and
write. The vernacular character is circular in shape, and written
with a style upon palmyra leaves. The most valued of the sacred
books are composed of slips of ivory, and written in the square, or
Pali character. The priests, as well as the other inhabitants, keep a
sort of scrap-book, or album, which consists of a piece of cloth,
smeared with lamp-black (folded up into a small compass), in which
they wnte with a pencil of steatites, songs, memoranda, or any thing
cunous; they also keep their accounts, and preserve sketches of
remarkable objects in it. The name of the book, in the vernacular
tongue, is parucele. Besides the rhahans, poonghees, or priests, there
are a few antiquated virgins, who shave their heads, and are employed
in carrying water to the temples, and in other menial offices in the
sacred buildings.
A very considerable part of the population of Rangoon is composed
of