ng its inclosure or garden. The
population was very small, in comparison to the area occupied by
the town. This was divided into two parts--the inner and outer
town. The whole was surrounded by a brick wall, five miles and a
half in circumference, some sixteen feet high and ten feet in
thickness, strengthened on the inside by a great bank of earth. The
inner town was inclosed by a separate wall, with a deep ditch on
two sides, the river Irrawaddy on the third, and a tributary river
on the fourth.

A considerable portion of the inclosed area was occupied by the
royal quarter; containing the palace, the court of justice, the
council chamber, arsenal, and the houses of the ministers and chief
officials. This was cut off from the rest by a strong and
well-built wall, twenty feet high, outside which was a stockade of
the same height. The total population of Ava was but 25,000.

The officer did not take Stanley to the royal quarter, observing
that it was better not to go there as, although he had leave to
walk in the town, it might give offence were he to show himself
near the palace; but after going through the wall, they visited two
or three of the markets, of which there were eleven in the town.

The markets consisted of thatched huts and sheds, and were well
supplied with the products of the country. Here were rice, maize,
wheat, and various other grains; sticks of sugar cane, tobacco,
cotton, and indigo; mangoes, oranges, pineapples, custard apples,
and plantains were in abundance; also peacocks, jungle fowl,
pigeons, partridges, geese, ducks, and snipes--but little meat was
on sale, as the Burman religion forbids the killing of animals for
food. Venison was the only meat allowed to be sold in the markets;
but there were lizards, iguanas, and snakes, which were exposed
freely for sale; and there were large quantities of turtle and
tortoise eggs, which had been brought up from the delta.

Stanley saw that there had really been no great occasion for him to
stain his skin, as the people were, for the most part, lighter in
colour than the Hindoos. Many of the men had, however, stained
their faces to a darker colour; and all were tattooed, more or
less. Men, women, and children were all smoking; and frequently,
when both hands were required for any purpose, thrust their cigars
into the large holes bored in the lobes of their ears. Both men and
women were somewhat short in stature, but squarely built and
muscular and, in