much adroitness and industry; and it occurred to us, who had never seen such an implement but in the hands of a menial, not with much dignity. Having frequently waved it to and fro, brushed himself and the throne sufficiently, and adjusted his cumbrous habiliments, he took his seat. The Burman courtiers, who were seated in the usual posture of other Eastern nations, prostrated themselves, on his Majesty's appearance, three times. This ceremony, which consists in raising the joined hands to the forehead, and bowing the head to the ground, is called, in the Burman language, Shi-ko, or the act of submission and homage. No salutation whatever was dictated to us; but as soon as his Majesty presented himself, we took off our hats, which we had previously kept on purposely, raised our right hands to our foreheads, and made a respectful bow.

The Queen presented herself immediately after his Majesty, and seated herself upon the throne, at his right hand. Her dress was of the same fabric, and equally rich with that of the King. Her crown of gold, like his, and equally studded with gems, differed in form, and much resembled a Roman helmet. The little Princess, their only child, and about five years of age, followed her Majesty, and seated herself between her parents. The Queen was received by the courtiers with similar prostrations as his Majesty, and we also paid her the same compliment as we had done to the King. When their Majesties were seated, the resemblance of the scene which presented itself to the illusion of a well got up drama, forcibly occurred to us; but I may safely add, that no mimic exhibition could equal the splendour and pomp of the real scene.

'As soon as his Majesty was seated, a band of Brahmins, who are the soothsayers of the Burman Court, began to chant a hymn, which continued for two or three minutes. In what language it was, or on what subject, we could not ascertain. These persons stood behind the throne, a little to his Majesty's left; so that we had but an imperfect view of them. They wore white dresses, with caps of the same colour, trimmed with gold lace or tinsel. This part of the ceremony being over, the first thing done was to read aloud a list of offerings made by his Majesty to certain Pagodas in the city of Ava. The names of the temples were specified, and it was stated that the offerings were made because the temples in question were "depositaries of relics of Gautama,-representatives of his divinity, and therefore suitable objects of worship." This was done by a Than-d'hau-gan, or Reporter of the Palace. The list was read or rather sung, from a book which he held before him.'- pp. 132–135.

The author now enters into details which he may perhaps regard as important, but which, in our eyes, appear to be of little interest. He afterwards adds the following particulars respecting the person and habits of the king, which deserve to be read :

His present Majesty was about forty-three years of age, of short stature, but of active form. His manners are lively and affable, but his affability often degenerates into familiarity, and this not unfrequently of a ludicrous description. A favourite courtier, for example, will sometimes have his ears pinched, or be slapped over the face. Foreigners have been still more frequently the objects of such familiarities, because with them freedoms may be taken with less risk of compromising his authority. The King is partial to active sports, beyond what is usual with Asiatic sovereigns

such as water excursions, riding on horseback and on elephants, elephant catching, &c. Among his out-door amusements there is one so boyish and so barbarous as not easily to be believed, had it not been well authenticated:-this is the practice of riding upon a man's shoulders. No saddle is made use of on these occasions, but for a bridle there is a strap of muslin put into the mouth of the honoured biped. Before the war, the favourite horse was a native of Sarwa,-a man of great bulk and strength, with shoulders so broad and fleshy as to make his Majesty's seat perfectly safe and comfortable. When the English arrived at Sarwa, this person had a brother there who submitted to their authority. This treasonable proceeding becoming known at Court, the favourite was degraded and put in irons, as well as deprived of a title and assignment of land which he enjoyed for his services. His Majesty has at present no human vehicle of this description. I ought to observe, that the practice of riding on a man's shoulders is not peculiar to his present Majesty, but has often been practised by other full-grown persons of the Royal blood.

'He seldom goes abroad, or shews himself to his subjects, without being accompanied by the Queen. On the most solemn occasions, she sits with him upon the throne; and in public processions, her vehicle is carried side by side with his. When they are spoken of, the customary form of expression is not "the King" or " the Queen" separately, but "the two Sovereign Lords." So great is her power over him, and so unaccountable does it appear, that her enemies charge her with the practice of magic; and some of the royal family, it is said, familiarly speak of her under the name of "the sorceress." None of his Queens ever sat with his late Majesty on the throne during his long reign, nor have I been able to ascertain that it was ever the practice of the Burman kings before his present Majesty's accession. In an eastern country, at all events, it is certainly a singular spectacle. When the last Chinese Embassy received an audience in the year 1823, her Majesty then appeared upon the throne-an invasion of Oriental usage which must have been a subject of wonder to a ceremonious and punctilious nation, who themselves keep the sex in a state of entire retirement and seclusion. To the Burmans themselves, however, the matter does not seem so extraordinary; for, with them, generally speaking, women are more nearly upon an equality with the stronger sex, than among any other Eastern people of consideration; yet they have never, that I am aware of, been raised to the throne, or directly exercised any political authority. Her Majesty's disposition is less amiable than that of the King, and her temper more austere and haughty.'—pp. 139–141. In all Oriental countries, dancing girls make an important figure in the list of amusements. The performances of those of Ava are thus described.

In passing through the court-yard, on our departure, we stopped for a few minutes, from motives of civility, to see an exhibition of dancingwomen. Two of the King's corps de ballet were performing, considered the first dancers in the kingdom. They displayed great agility in their way; sometimes they bent their body backwards in such a manner as to touch the ground with the head, and without any assistance from the hands to recover the erect position; but their movements were violent, their gestures ungraceful, and sometimes a little indecent. They sung

while they danced, and in both respects seemed as if they were performing for a wager. The presents given to us upon this occasion were to each a small ruby-ring, a broad-brimmed straw hat, not unlike a lady's Leghorn bonnet, and a handsome bainboo betel-box, of Shan or Lao manufacture.' -p. 160.

The following example of petty tyranny, can scarcely be exceeded in the history of Oriental nations.

One striking example of this came under the immediate observation of the European prisoners of war, which was frequently mentioned to me. In the family of Men-tha-gyi, but not in his seraglio, there was a handsome young woman of the Cassy nation: she and a young man of the same tribe, also in the family, had formed an attachment for each other. Men-tha-gyi, who had some pretensions to the young woman's person himself, would not permit their union. The young people eloped, but no person dared to afford them an asylum. They were pursued, arrested, and brought back. The young man was imprisoned in five pair of shackles, put into the stocks, and finally starved to death. When he screamed from pain and suffering, he was beaten by the gaolers; and after six weeks' endurance, his existence was terminated by a few blows of a mallet over the head and breast. Men-tha-gyi, as the gaolers stated, watched and directed his torture and punishment. The young woman disappeared, and had never since been heard of. This, according to the information of the gaolers, was the second case of the same nature which had occurred. The first took place at Amarapura, about three years before. Men-tha-gyi, before the elevation of his sister, is alleged to have exercised the very humble occupation of a fishmonger: the Queen's aunt is even said to have carried a basket of fish upon her head, in the exercise of a still humbler branch of the same calling.'-p. 161.

The mission succeeded in its principal object, which was to effect a commercial treaty between the English and Burmese; and the negociators left Ava in the latter end of December, 1826. The addition made to our knowledge of the Burman empire by Mr. Crawfurd's Journal, is very considerable. Both the people and the country are cleverly described; and there are fewer ill-conducted speculations than are generally to be found in works of this kind. The information conveyed, however, is by no means commensurate with the bulk of the volume, which, as usual, is swelled by innumerable trifling details of no utility whatever. With a little art and patience, all that is valuable in this work might have been condensed into one small duodecimo volume, which would have been universally read, and if it did not add to the wealth, would at least have increased the reputation of the able and ingenious and liberal historian of the Indian Archipelago.

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ART. II. An Encyclopædia of Plants; comprising the Description, Specific Character, Culture, History, Application in the Arts, and every other desirable Particular respecting all the Plants, Indigenous, Cultivated in, or introduced to Britain; combining all the advantages of a Linnæan and Jussieuean Species Plantarum, a Grammar of Botany, and a Dictionary of Botany, and Vegetable Culture. The whole in English; with the Synonymes of the commoner Plants in the different European and other Languages; the Scientific names accentuated, their Etymologies explained; the Classes, Orders, and Botanical Terms illustrated by Engravings, and with Figures of nearly ten thousand species, exemplifying several individuals belonging to every genus included in the work. Edited by J. C. Loudon, F. L. S. H. S. &c. The specific characters by an Eminent Botanist; the Drawings by J. D. C. Sowerby, F. L. S.: and the Engravings by R. Branston. 8vo. pp. 1159. London: Longman and Co. 1829. THIS work comes most opportunely in the gay season of flowers, -"the leafy month of June," as Coleridge calls it, when every hedge is white with blossoms and every field is decked in the rich garniture of summer. Indeed, with the Encyclopædia of Plants' for a companion-which speaks of every vegetable production "from the cedar of Lebanon to the hyssop which groweth on the wall-" we could range with enthusiastic delight through groves and gardens, in the pathless forest, the broad savannah, or the mountain glen, and could find "society where none intrudes" in the sweet companionship of flowers, from their earliest germ to the full expansion of their beauties in the summer's sun.

And surely botany may well be called an elegant study, though to many it appears dry, difficult, and of course uninterestingan opinion which seems to be slowly gaining ground, and the study, in consequence, to be rather on the decline in the circles of fashion. There are two ways in which the study may be pursued, and one of these, at least the study of botanical prints and drawings, has little chance of coming into disrepute so long as the arts continue to advance, as they are now doing, in accuracy of design and brilliancy of execution. In this way, by having a numerous collection of good engravings, and descriptions of them, such as the work before us amply supplies, it is quite possible to learn and know a great deal of botany without ever seeing a living flower, or without ever experiencing the delight of a botanical excursion in the country.

The latter, however, is the true and only genuine method of studying the science; and in this way it is indeed a most delightful and elegant pursuit. We speak from the recollections of twenty years' experience, when we say, that among the brightest pictures of our past pleasures, are those of our summer wanderings in search of plants and flowers. The pursuit creates a keenness and enthusiasm of mind, which to others appears little short of folly, though it gives the botanist himself the enjoyment of the most innocent

pleasure, and makes his hours pass on brightly and smilingly. And what cares he if the world calls him foolish and mad, and talk of his dearest treasures as vile and worthless weeds, and of his rare mosses as mere toys for the nursery. He can say the same of the amusements, the pleasures, and even of the serious pursuits of the world. He can say, that while he admires the beauty of a flower, and the perfection of its structure, others admire the glittering of a gilded star or a jewelled coronet, and are seemingly no less mad than he, in the pursuit of such gewgaws. He can say, that while he spends his hours in admiring the workmanship of God in a blade of grass, or in the flower of a lily, others spend their hours in studying the inferior works of man, in painting and in poetry; and he can speak as neglectingly, and look as coldly upon their collections, by this master, and the other master, as they can do on his cabinets and herbariums, in which there is nothing but what has been planned by the highest wisdom, and executed by the highest skill.

We have put the case strongly. We think each party wrong to undervalue the studies of the other; for, after all, our highest pleasures and enjoyments, when coolly considered, are but little removed from the pleasures and enjoyments of infancy, and the pursuits of childhood: it is enough for us, if in infancy, as in manhood, the pursuit give pleasure: it is enough, if it help us in this world of care, to pass, at least, a few of our hours, or days, or weeks, in contentment and happiness; and this, the pursuit of botany is well fitted to do, if entered upon with keenness. One source of enjoyment it most amply supplies we speak of health. The genuine botanist must be frequently abroad in the fields, he must wander through meadows, trace the course of streams and rivers, make his way through woods and thickets, and the depths of forests, he must clamber among rocks, and ascend mountains, and even fathom lakes, rivers, and seas; and if he do all this to become a botanist, he must take the best, and the most healthful exercise. In this view the study of botany, in many of our most refractory diseases, would be more efficient than the best prescriptions. It is in vain, indeed, to talk of making an invalid take exercise, when he has nothing out of doors to do, and in fact it is found, when exercise is thus recommended or prescribed, it is usually neglected one day in three. But give the invalid a motive, make him study botany, and his daily walk and his daily exercise are insured. Besides, this will keep the spirits delightfully alive, it will rouse the mind, put the thoughts in play, and expel most of the diseases of indolence, gormandizing, and luxury; over which regularly prescribed exercise will have a feeble influence. The study, in fine, when keenly pursued, throws an interest upon every rural walk, and causes the summer fields to bloom more brightly, and the summer sun to shine more charmingly, than they can do to him who calls every flower a weed, and every nosegay a nursery toy.