els. In
another court not far from this, there are four other pagodas or idols
of wonderful size, made of copper, which were formed in the places in
which they now stand, being of such enormous size that they could not be
removed. These stand in four separate houses, and are gilded all over
except their heads, which resemble black-a-moors. The expences of these
people in gilding their images are quite enormous. The king has only one
wife, but above 300 concubines, by whom he is said to have 80 or 90
children. He sits in judgment every day, on which occasion the
applicants use no speech, but give up their supplications in writing,
being upon long slips of the leaves of a tree, a yard long and about two
inches broad, written with a pointed iron or stile like a bodkin. He who
gives in his application, stands at some distance carrying a present. If
his application is to be complied with, his present is accepted and his
request granted; but if his suit be denied he returns home with his
present.

There are few commodities in India which serve for trade at Pegu, except
opium of Cambaia, painted cottons from San Thome or Masulipatam, and
white cloth of Bengal, vast quantities of which are sold here. They
bring likewise much cotton yarn, dyed red with a root called _saia_,
which never loses its colour, a great quantity of which is sold yearly
in Pegu at a good profit. The ships from Bengal, San Thome, and
Masulipatam, come to the bar of Negrais and to Cosmin. To Martaban,
another sea-port in the kingdom of Pegu, many ships come from Malacca,
with sandal-wood, porcelains, and other wares of China, camphor of
Borneo, and pepper from Acheen in the island of Sumatra. To Siriam,
likewise a port of Pegu, ships come from Mecca with woollen cloth,
scarlet, velvets, opium, and other goods.

In Pegu there are eight brokers called _tareghe_, which are bound to
sell your goods at the prices they are worth, receiving as their fee two
in the hundred, for which they are bound to make good the price, because
you sell your goods on their word. If the broker do not pay you on the
day appointed, you may take him home to your house and keep him there,
which is a great shame for him. And, if he do not now pay you
immediately, you may take his wife, children, and slaves, and bind them
at your door in the sun; for such is the law of the country. Their
current money is of brass, which they call _ganza_, with which you may
buy gold, silver, rubies, m